Final Fantasy: The Crystal Chronicles
by Shining Riku
Summary: A novelization of Crystal Chronicles. From humble begginings in a village in the middle of nowhere, to the ends of the earth travels a boy with many secrets, and a mission. Author's note: The two and a half month Hiatus is over at last! YAY! Please R&R!
1. Prologue: History of the Crystal Caravan

Prologue:

The History of the Crystal Caravans

Back in the times of old, during the Golden Age, there once was a Great Crystal. Its size and beauty were unrivaled by anything in the world. All of the nations basked in its glow, and all was good. Then one day, a fell meteor came from the sky. It was so bright, all the stars fainted away, and it was as bright as the day. The meteor collided with the Great Crystal, and the Crystal exploded into many shards. The meteor then began to exude a malefic miasma that made the sky go dark, and the land die, and the people were forced to flee for their lives. They fled across the land, running from the miasma, when they found a part of the Great Crystal. It offered protection from the miasma, and so they stayed. A century after the destruction of the Great Crystal and the spread of the miasma, monsters were seen in the woods and in the hills. The villagers also noticed that the Crystals were slowly losing their glow. To remedy their plight, they took a small piece of the Crystal shard and made an amulet out of it, and gave it to the strongest warriors. The warriors then set out for a solution to the problem, and the villagers did their best to carry on. One year later, the Warriors came back, and told of a strange tree they had never seen before. Their crystal had reacted with the tree, and drew from it some sort of dew that glowed like the Crystal. The village elder then took the amulet to the crystal, and the crystal glowed like a shining blue star. The day after, the crystal's glow had not receded, so the villagers assumed they had found the solution. They named the dew "Myrrh", set up a caravan of the strongest people in the village, and sent them out to collect the myrrh once a year.

This is the beginning of the Crystal Chronicles


	2. The Boy in the Woods

Chapter 1: The Boy in the Woods

One beautiful day, many centuries past the meteor strike, in some woods as green as emeralds on the tip of a peninsula, a boy was hanging in a tall apple tree. He had light brown hair and he had on quite strange clothes. He had on a grey wool shirt that was under a couple small plates of metal, and over his armor, he had on a maroon vest. For pants, he had on striped shorts and a pair of long and thin brown pants under his shorts. He had on small brown shoes, and over those, he had on metal shells shaped like the shoes. The shoes had on high metal backs, so that one could not slash his ankles, and he had small plates trapped over his elbows. Under his wool shirt he had on a curious crystal that was the color of aquamarine, and it glowed like a blue-green star. He struggled to keep his legs firmly wrapped around the tree branch as he plucked apples from the branches and dropped them carefully to the forest floor. He continued picking the apples, but he did not notice his legs slipping. Right when it was too late, he tried to wrap himself around the branch again. His legs slipped while he had his hands on the branch, and he flipped and his legs dangled twenty feet above the soft grass. He started to bend his legs upward, but his fingers slipped and he plummeted. "Oh shoooooooooooooooooooot!" he yelled as he fell. He hit the ground with a "Thunk!" and sank into the deep grass. As he lay catching his breath, he heard low, rasping voices.

"I swear I heard a yell, Chief!"

"Shut yer yapper, we'll find the little blighter and gut him!"

Ichiro rolled over, crawled behind the apple tree, and carefully poked his head out from behind the trunk. The mystery people were short and somewhat thin, except around the middle. Their skin was red, and it looked about as thick as leather. For clothes, they had on some tattered garments and they all wore helms that were too small, and the bigger one had a bone sticking out of the top of his helm. "_Great."_ he thought.

"The last thing I need is to get abducted by goblins." he thought. As the Goblins walked around in the thick weed, the boy could hear twigs snapping. He slowly and carefully drew his sword, and inched closer to the edge of the tree. When the goblins were close enough, He jumped out and bashed one of the goblins on the helm, jumped to the side to dodge a downward slash, and countered with a thrust. The goblin fell to the ground with a grunt, and the others charged at him. He turned and ran towards the tree and ran up the trunk and flipped behind the group. He wildly flashed his sword to block the hurricane of swords, and managed to crack his sword down on another skull. He then ran and grabbed his shield and pulled it up just as a flurry of rocks and arrows erupted from the grass. Flinging himself into the grass, he surprised his opponents and took down both of their archers. He did a couple of back flips and then crouched behind his shield to block another sword slash. He lifted his shield and stabbed his opponent's foot, and then stabbed him as he fell. He turned around with a twist and held up his sword to parry another blow, and with a deft maneuver, he disarmed the leader and attempted to stab him, but a fist flew to his head and threw him against a tree. He regained his senses quickly and grabbed his axe, and turned around and hucked it at the chief with all his might. The axe sunk into his left shoulder and he hit the ground hard. Then he came up and finished him off, and then turned and ran for the village as if Hades was on his tail. He took his bugle and blew three sharp, piercing blasts. As he came to the bridge, he saw it was pulled up already. The bridge went over a river that had sunk into the ground over time, and it had formed a small canyon. He grabbed a long stick and ran to the gap at full speed. At the last possible second, he jabbed the ground with the stick and vaulted over the sunken river. He flew as fast as the wind, and landed on the tips of his toes. He lost his balance and rolled into the middle of a dirt path. It forked left and right and it spread out further into the village. Bunches of villagers were already in the forked area, and they were waiting for him.

"Goblins in the woods. Six of them, including the chieftain." He gasped. The villagers then calmly parted way for their village leader, Roland. Roland was dressed similarly to Ichiro, for that was the boy's name, and he held a book under his arm. He was the oldest man in the village, was very slightly stooped, and he had a big nose and grey hair.

"Ichiro, are you sure that was all of them?"

"Elder, I'm not sure. I feared that there might be more, and they were smart for once. I could barely handle six. They are getting better."

Being a man of few words, Roland quickly called for the villagers attentions and explained the situation.

After Roland finished, everyone carried out his orders, got their belongings, and set up camp around the crystal in the center plaza. The village was situated on the end of a cliff that looked out over the horizon and over the sea. Trees surrounded the village, and there were a few trees here and there inside. A few lookouts took up their places at the barricade, which was ten feet high, twelve across, and half a foot thick. They kept an eye out for trouble, while the others got in some archery or fencing practice. Ichiro got together with a few of his friends to pass the time faster. His friends were a variety of shapes and sizes, and they all were good people. There was Bishop, Sella, Rick, Anna, Zach, Engle, Portia, Selena, and Asuka.

Bishop was about six feet high, and he had on black and white checkered robes with a purple cloth sticking out of the collar that hung to his waist. On his sleeves, he had blue runes. His helm had a long and crooked beak-like extension, and it had a crown type figure on the top. Bishop was charitable by nature, and he was virtuous to a fault. He was fond of fruit and vegetables, and he barely tolerated meat of any kind. He mostly kept to himself and studied plants and magic, but occasionally got on to people for their lack in manners or good behavior.

Rick was dressed similarly, but his robes were emerald green and his cloth was red. On his shoulders, he had white runes, and on his chest, he had golden runes. His helm stuck out a bit at the front, and then it curved down. Instead of a crown, he had one long spiraling horn stick out the top. He was almost always lost in thought, and when he was not, he usually talked everyone's ear off. He would get tired easy, and go to sleep. If anyone woke him up in this state, he would panic and gibber madly.

Sella, on the other hand, was very full of energy, and was very hard to calm down. She also had trouble staying quiet, like Rick. She had on clothes similar to Bishop and Rick, but they were red, and she had a crimson tulip wrought of iron on her helm. She was possessed of a kind and hospitable nature, and would not hurt a fly.

Ichiro possessed a bold and heroic personality, but was occasionally washed up in what he called "stupid moments". He never lets his friends down, and pulls them out of everything, no matter what the circumstance.

Asuka, one of the tailor's daughters, was the happy, in-the-clouds person. She wore a long, dark brown coat that had an orange mid-section that went down the front. Her pant legs were calico colored, and her shoes were sturdy leather with dark metal back parts like Ichiro's. She wore her blonde hair shoulder length, and just left it at that. She was always happy. Period. End of story. She always lifts the team up when they are down.

Engle is the quiet one of the team. he wears a worn-out steel bucket that had a hole that was worn into it with long use. He wore a blue piece of clothing that went al over his body like pajamas, but the weren't pajamas. He also had on big plate metal gauntlets that covered his whole short arms, and his shoes were mostly made out of metal, except for the inside. Overall, he was hard to hurt. Occasionally, he says something stupid, and tries to hide in his helmet. He makes up for it with his battle skills and superior courage.

Portia, the slightly bossy lilty, was bishop's talented cooking assistant. She had armor, but she only wore it when she battled. She regularly wore a little blue dress. She had a stout heart like Engle, and was as fierce as a lion when roused.

Selena, Asuka's sister, was girly, and easily panicked in tense situations. She wore a coat like her sister, but it was white with a golden front stripe, and her pant legs were dark brown. She wore her hair half-way down her back, and she covered the top of her head with a maroon handkerchief. Despite being girly, she was very agile, and could give a selkie a run for their money, and that is saying something.

Anna, the minister's daughter, was very modest, and could be counted on to keep the team from biting each other's heads off. She dressed a little plainly, and like Selena, her coat was white, although it had no stripe. She wore a white hat above her head and her light brown hair was as short as Asuka's. She would put everybody's life first in a dangerous situation.

Zach was what everybody else was not. He wore a coat like Ichiro, and most of his clothing was white with brown here and there. Overall, he wore simple clothes. On his head he had a hat slightly similar to Anna's, only it was for boys. He was very lazy, and his aim was poor. If he was aiming for the person next to you, you would do better to run. Every once in a while, he would shape up, and really turn the tables on the foe. Most believe he has great skills and power, but is just too lazy to use them.

"What exactly happened, Ichiro?" Anna asked.

"I was off in the woods about a mile down the road, picking apples out of the trees; see, because there are no more apples in the rancher's orchard. I really was hungry for apples, so I took a walk and climbed the first good apple tree I could find. I was up there for about five minutes, when I lost my hold and fell. I knocked the wind out of myself, and I had to catch my breath. It turns out there were some goblins in the woods and they heard my yell."

Anna, the one who asked the question, only said,

"Well, you should be more careful next time. Actually, you shouldn't even be out there…" she trailed off.

"Ichiro, that was irresponsible, going out there with no permission! Did you have enough sense to at least take the Amulet with you?"

"Enough of your tomfoolery already, Ichiro. You should know better, going out there."

"Sigh. At least I found out about the goblins. I know I should listen to Roland, but my stomach woulda eaten itself if I hadn't gotten an apple or two." Ichiro said.

The two critics, Bishop and Portia, shook their heads and said,

"We know. Thank your stomach for finding the goblins. We do not mean to be critical, but we just do not want you doing something stupid. Really, we're glad you found out."

The tailor's daughters, Asuka, and her younger sister Selena, were both sitting farthest from the campfire, nodding off. They suddenly sat up and shook themselves awake, and said,

"Ichiro, you didn't get to eat much, did you?" He shook his head. They then tossed a bunch of grapes at him and he snatched them out of the air and quickly and unmercifully scarfed them down.

"Excuse me…," he muttered."However, you would be hungry too, if you hadn't eaten anything all day." Then Asuka stood up and said,

"I'll be going off to visit the moogle under the crystal. He just moved in recently!" She said excitedly. "I LOVE moogles!" She took off into the darkness faster than the wind and before anybody could reply.

"All I can say, is, best of luck to the moogle..." Ichiro

"That's that" bishop added. "We might as well practice a little or sleep if we dare."

"I'll practice, but i'm kinda tired." Ichiro said. He got up slowly, and pulled out his beaten copper sword.

"That settles it then. We'll practice some, while the rest of us fix the dinner." A Lilty that had been sitting quietly until now asked nervously,

"Are them goblins gonna get us?"

"Not while I'm around!" Ichiro said bravely

"Did he really hear me?" he asked.

"Maybe, but i wouldn't count on it, knowing how much attention he pays in school." Bishop replied. By now, Selena had already repositioned herself and was now snoring quietly. The Lilty, whose name was Engle, got up and picked up a stick and was now swinging it and thrusting it as if it were a lance. Ichiro practiced too, and he blocked all of his attacks, while trying to land a few himself. Bishop had pulled out an old tattered book, and was reading it under his breath. As he muttered, little plants came from the ground around him and sprouted. Within a minute, they had fully grown and shown their leaves. He then gently plucked a few leaves from the plants and procured a small pot from his pack. He set up the campfire for a stew. He then asked Portia to get out some meat, while he tossed in the herbs.

She handed him two gourd potatoes, three star carrots, two slices of meat, and a cob of round corn. He turned the potatoes into shredded hash browns with a little knife, while Portia cut up the carrots. He then cut the corn off the cob, scattered it around in the pot, and cut the meat into bite-size chunks. Then he tossed the meat in and sat back down, reading his book, quietly, this time. Portia tended the stew while Engle continued to scamper about, now hacking at Icjiro like the stick was an axe. She called him over and said,

"Engle, you go and get Zachary, Sella, and Richard over here so they can have some stew." At that, Engle ran off and quickly disappeared down the path and faded into the darkness and left before Ichiro could whack him. Portia sat back down and watched the flames dancing under the kettle while waiting for Engle to bring their friends over. After a while, Portia started to nod off too. Her head hung, and her eyelids shut slowly. From behind, someone suddenly stuck their hand on her shoulder. She jumped and turned around, only to see it was Asuka.

"Shhh…." she whispered. "I have been over to the moogle's, and he swears he can smell goblins. Best be alert." Then she sat down too. Portia nodded and went over to her pack and put her lance on top, and then sat back down by the fire. All of a sudden, Engle popped back into camp and quickly sat down in his spot. Then Sella, Rick, and Zach came into the light and sat down.

"Selena! Time to wake up!" Portia said. Selena refused to wake up. Bishop poked her in the side, and she twitched. Then opened her eyes slowly, stifled a huge yawn, and sat up. Bishop was now passing out bowls and spoons, and Portia was dealing out the stew. When Ichiro wasn't looking, Engle whacked him across the back of his head with the stick, and when Ichiro's eyes refocused, he asked,

"What day is it?"

"Your Birthday!" Engle replied. Everyone looked at Engle, and when he realized he was the center of attention, he pulled his bucket helmet over his head so no one could see him blushing. Everyone then turned his or her attention to the stew, and soon it was all gone. Now everyone was satisfied, and all were either conversing with each other, or else pretending to battle. The Yukes Bishop, Rick, and Sella were discussing the uses of herb and who knows what else, and Ichiro, Selena, Portia, Engle and Asuka were practicing. Zach, on the other hand, sat back down, and was soon sawing logs. They carried on in this manner for ten or so minutes, when they heard shouting down by the barricade. The team instantly jumped up, rushed to arms, and headed for the barricade. All but one. Zach slept on as if he was sleeping beauty. Ichiro was too excited to watch where he was going, and he tripped.

"This is no time for any of your shenanigans!" Selena shrieked. Ichiro picked himself up and ran. As he ran, the lookouts came tearing out of the barricade area, clearly terrified. Still running, he looked towards the barricade, and then he knew why. The Barricade was burning uncontrollably, and he could hear goblins hacking at the wood. "Great." He thought. "They are either using fire arrows, or they have a few fire mages. AND they found a way across the river." Just as he got to the barricade, a giant goblin smashed it open with a gigantic hammer. The goblin saw Ichiro, and ran for him with the hammer headed right for his head. "This is a great way to snuff me out!" he thought. He clutched the amulet, and suddenly, it gave off a bright flash. He felt the myrrh coursing through his body, and he felt as if he could do anything. The hammer was right above his head, going in slow motion. He thrust the hundred-pound hammer away with his sword as if it was a leaf, and he smote the goblin on the chest plate. It crumpled before him like paper, and he advanced onward into the thick of the army. Everything was still slow, so he could dodge everything with ease. he saw a flurry of arrows headed for him and he side-stepped them and kept going. Then he felt the air heat up around him, and he jumped out of the way. He was back on the ground just as the ground erupted into intense flames. He pounced upon the goblins and hewed them down like wheat. His friends just gaped as they saw him at his antics, then they all whooped, and they charged, inspired by Ichiro's prowess. The Goblins fell in less then five minutes, and the escapees fled for their lives, terrified of the shining bolt of blue lightning. After regrouping, the children just stared at each other, too surprised to even speak. Finally, Rick found his voice,

"That was the coolest doggone show I have ever seen!" Then all the children started talking at once.

"Whoa, HOLD IT!" Ichiro shouted.

They quieted down, surprisingly.

"Okay, I do not know what happened, but I am sure Elder Roland will know." He walked back to the plaza, and the rest followed in great curiosity. He came across Elder Roland sitting in front of the crystal.

"I see you have finally discovered the secret of the Amulet, Ichiro. I knew you could do it!" He added with a smile.

"So you know what happened, then?"

"I can only guess, Ichiro. I have read documents from our past caravans, and the amulet bearers thought that the amulet had some great secret. They never found it, but they felt it. Some even used some of the powers you displayed, but not all of them figured it out."

"Elder, when I used it, I held it in my hand, and I think I somehow absorbed the myrrh from it."

"You probably did, Ichiro. However, I cannot help you solve this mystery. Back in the olden days, gifted seers foretold the birth of a child of Destiny. He was prophesied to be the banisher of the Miasma, and the Bringer of light. If you are indeed the child of destiny, you have many other powers we cannot even begin to fathom. One of his many abilities would be total mastery of the elements."

"Wow." Ichiro gasped.

"Ichiro, If you are this person, this is a great responsibility. You must remain strong. The other Elders and I have discussed this at length. In addition, we have agreed that our caravan is in need of new members. The caravaners are getting on in years, and they want to retire and live in peace. I also understand you and your friends are literally itching for some experience."

"Yes, sir."

"Hmmm… we always did get good results from sending out younger ones. One thing is certain, Ichiro. Now that you have proven yourself, you may inherit the position of leading the Caravan. You are grown up enough to know what this means, right?"

"I do, sir."

"I have something to show you, Ichiro." Roland then got up off the stairs and walked slowly to his house. Ichiro followed, while his friends waited. Roland walked up to his front door, and opened it and stepped inside. Ichiro followed him in and saw him turn down to the basement stairs, and began his descent. When he got down, he saw Roland standing in front of a bookcase.

"Ichiro, I am about to show you the caravaner's secret armory. Our founding fathers created weapons for themselves, and they have special properties. This here is Flamberge, the fire sword. The rest of the weapons here are also special. I ask you, Ichiro, to take these weapons and distribute them throughout your group. These weapons have great powers, and they can be unlocked only when the user becomes one with the weapon." Ichiro took down Flamberge, and carefully turned it over in his hands. It had a shining ruby in its hilt. The inside of the ruby glowed with swirling fire.

"I like this sword." Ichiro said.

"That is the first time I have seen that ruby glow in a long time."

"When was the last time you saw it glow, Elder?"

"It was before I first started in the caravan. That is the sword I used. But in all my days, I never saw it shine as brightly as it is shining now."

"Then this has to be the sword I'm to use!"

"Maybe so, Ichiro, but someday you will be able to use other swords too. One more thing… In the far past, I had a companion that wielded the thunder blade. We lost him in battle, and we never found that blade again. If you ever find anybody that has it, they may be your friend. If not, retrieve it at all costs. It was very destructive and had the power to rend the skies with terrible lightning. Do NOT let it fall into the wrong hands. One last thing. I have your late Grandmother's diary here. Take it, and use it as a guide when you visit places. It should lead you to the myrrh trees and has a few folk legends she picked up in towns. I will have a big wagon set up for you at the end of the week. You are now the leader of the caravan of Tipa." Roland turned to the weapon racks and gathered all of the weapons, and put them in a thick sack.

"Ichiro, I will help you get this back to your camp, and you can split them up back there." They hefted the bag up, and slowly made their way back out into the open. When they got to the camp, they both dropped the bag in front of the others, who turned around and gaped.

"You people use these weapons with caution, and they will serve you well." Roland said. Then he went out of the camp light and a little later, they heard the front door of his house close. Then all of them looked at Ichiro expectantly.

"Everybody, Roland made me the leader of the caravan and we set out in a week. He gave me all of the weapons in his house as a gift, and he asked me to give them to you." Engle looked up and asked,

"You mean I get a weapon too?"

"Yes, you do, Engle." He sat there and looked as if he had found a gold mine.

"Spread them out!" Anna said. Earlier, she was around when Ichiro got back from the woods, but then she left and went back to her family. She is a Clavat, by the way. She had just gotten back when Ichiro and Roland appeared with the bag. Ichiro gently and carefully took out each weapon in its sheath and laid it out on the ground. Flamberge, however, he kept strapped to his side. The weapon's names were etched into their corresponding sheath. There was Marina the water sword, Gandara the earth axe, Syone the wind bow, a few magic rings, and a few other weapons. They were all passed around and tested, and everybody found a weapon.

Sella and Rick both found a ring they liked, and were now reading little books they found in the pack that had spells they could use. Bishop found an old staff that had a chunk of quartz fixed to the top. Anna also found a ring, only it had a clear gem in the band. When she touched it, it flashed with a pure bright light that created red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and orange sparks.

"Looks like Anna found a weapon that likes her." Ichiro said.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Selena said. "When anybody picks up a weapon that reacts to their touch, they get to keep it!"

"Sounds good to me." Rick said. Right when he said that, he was enveloped in a cloud of darkness. Anna waved her hand in the cloud, and it dispersed with another flash.

"I have also found my weapon." he said. By now, Asuka had tried all the weapons but Marina. When she picked it up to inspect it, it shot out a burst of water that forced the sheath off and extinguished the fire. "Oops!" she laughed. In the dark, Sella chanted a spell, and the flames sprouted back up merrier and even more intense.

"That settles it." Ichiro said. "Asuka, you and Sella and Rick and Anna, keep those weapons, and the rest of us will keep looking until we get a reaction just as good or better. After a few more interesting reactions and when half of the camp was destroyed, they finally got their weapons. Ichiro with Flamberge, Asuka with Marina, Anna with the Holy ring, Rick with the Gravity ring, Sella with the Fire ring, Portia with Glacious, Engle with Gandara, Bishop with Ruina, Selena with Syone, And Zach settled for the Rune sword. The rest of the reactions went as follows. When Portia picked up Glacious, it froze to her hand, and she could not get it off. She stuck her hand in the fire, only to find she was impervious to fire. Everyone said afterwards the air around her seemed fifty degrees cooler than the rest of the air. Engle disappeared in a cloud of dust when he picked up Gandara, and the others attempted to dig him back up. He finally poked his head up in the moogle's house, and the moogle almost had a heart attack. He later recalled that that was one of the most exciting moments in his life, but he never told anyone he wet his armchair where he was sitting. Bishop waved the staff around for a bit and then when he was satisfied it was not going to do anything shocking, he stuck it in the ground. It literally blew up with light, and when it faded down, everyone was still seeing stars. Selena shot the bow at a tree and blew all of the leaves off and they landed on Engle as he was walking back. Last of all, Zack. He woke up when the arrow shot off like a sonic boom. He stood up and unsheathed his sword, and then he looked as if he was meditating. He then aimed it at the sky and shot a big blast of energy, and gave everybody the "That's how you do it!" look, and lay back down and went to sleep. So ends the day of excitement.


	3. Rough Roads

Chapter 2: Rough roads

At the end of the week, the villagers were glad to be rid of the excited new caravaners. A wave of destruction hit the village, and Roland secretly regretted giving them the weapons. By the end of the week, though, the all the weapons fell asleep again, except for the magic rings. The rings weren't as powerful, though. The weapons refused to do any more out of the ordinary. The children were worried, but Roland assured them that the weapons had "calmed down now, and would resume the spectacular elemental attacks once the weapons were mastered." Only Ichiro could still spontaneously create fire, and he assumed this was because he still had some myrrh in his body. Bishop, the village alchemist's son, knew a little about the elements, and if given time, thought he could reawaken the weapons prematurely, and maybe even make them more powerful. However, he said he would need a lot of spare time sitting and studying.

"That is a good idea." Ichiro said. "You take your time, and you can sit in the wagon and study, or watch the camp and study."

The day the caravaners left, the villagers were torn between joy and grief, grief because it would be a year before they came back, and joy because they brought "Those infernal tools of destruction!" with them. That day, the vilagers were in quite a hurry to be rid of the young questers

That night, they made camp in the woods about five miles from the spot where Ichiro was attacked. They picked some fruit and placed some meat on a pan, and cut up some of the fruit and placed some small pieces on the meat and let the juice make it more tender and flavorful. The rest of them packed the excess fruit away while some of the others went and fished for a bit. Then they skinned and boned the fish and smoked it and then they rubbed a little salt in to preserve it. Next, they put the fish in a special sack to prevent it from stinking up the wagon. They started to lay out their blankets and covers, when it started to rain. They rushed their belongings back into the wagon, and then they climbed in. Bishop reached up to light the lantern, because he was the tallest. Engle and Ichiro shut the back doors of the wagon while the rest put the stuff back in place, therefore giving them room enough to do as they please. Ichiro finally decided he was not sleepy, and he prepared to drive the wagon and continue going. His papaopamus was not sleepy either, so he drove them out of the woods and back onto the dirt-now-mud road.

Papaopamuses have thick round legs and leathery skin like elephants and their body is almost shaped like a stretched egg, and their head is merely the front part of their body. They have blue skin and have more endurance and strength than a horse, but are slower.

Ichiro continued through the night and snacked on a fish while steering the energetic papaopamus. When the morning came, the papopotomus was tired and fell asleep while trotting along. Ichiro woke him up and steered him off the road behind some bushes and woke up his comrades, and pulled his supplies out and prepared to create a tasty breakfast. Everybody was slow to getting out of bed, except for Zach. All he really did was eat and sleep anyways. Ichiro made a few pancakes and made some fruit cocktail to go along with it. He was the only one that wanted fish along with breakfast.

"Should we go to the River Belle Path first, or do you think we should go on towards Marrs Pass?" Ichiro asked.

"We have enough supplies to get along. Let's go ahead and go to the river belle path first." Bishop replied. "That way, we don't have to double back and take a longer trip than we need to."

"I agree!" Engle piped up.

Zach just snorted loudly and turned over in his sleep.

"Ok…….ignoring that…we'll go to the river belle path." Ichiro stated, while in the background, Bishop woke Zach up rather violently, and told him off for going to sleep.

The team cleaned up camp behind the bushes by the road, and packed the plates and pots and spoons away, and once again continued down the road. _The weather is nice today…_ Ichiro thought. _Maybe this will not be so difficult…but then again, Zach is hard to manage. I will make sure he behaves better by the time he comes home. _He decided.

He continued down the road, lightly conversing with his crew about the fun they would have, when he looked up. He saw the horizon as black and foreboding. _REALLY big storm coming tonight._ He thought. He urged the papaopamus on, and adjusted the hood on the front of the big wagon. Within minutes, the storm was above, and its fury tore at the wagon. Ichiro eventually had to strap himself to his seat to make sure he did not get blown off onto the road. He drove the wagon into a glade of trees at the side of the road. He knew the woods would not provide much protection, but it helped reduce the wind.

They just spent the night there and woke up to a wet and gloomy morning. The trees were droopy and morose, and the group was glad to leave the beaten glade.

Yet, the caravan was not yet defeated. This was ONLY the beginning of their troubles.


	4. The River Belle

Chapter 3: The River Belle

_Finally!_ Ichiro thought. _The storm is gone, and………………I'm wet._

"Bishop! Get the grub! I'm hungry!"

"Yes Sir!" Bishop said as he jumped out of his covers and hit the wagon floor.

Bishop scuttled over to the back of the wagon and yawned loudly while pulling his frying pan out of his pack. He teetered on the spot for a moment, and then fell back to the ground. He lay there, snoring loudly, which was amplified by his roomy helm.

Everybody began to stir after the resultant crash and snoring, and was soon stirring and waking up.

That morning, Portia ended up cooking breakfast, because Bishop stayed up all night reading and writing new spells to experiment with. He kept lolling his head about, and his face landed in his food a number of times.

"Bishop, I know I told you to study and stuff, but really, you need to live too." Ichiro told Bishop

Bishop replied with unintelligible muttering and a snort, as he picked the food out of the holes in his helm.

"Ok, while some of us go to the river belle path, make sure Bishop here doesn't cook the wagon while we're gone." Ichiro stated.

"Sounds good to me. I'll cook some lunch for you when you've gotten back from getting the myrrh." Portia replied.

"Now…let's see…" Ichiro said. "I want…" He looked around the room. "I want… Engle…Selena…Asuka…and Rick to come with me to the river belle path. The rest of you, guard the wagon and take care of sleepy head for me."

"Yesir, Ichiro!" Everybody else but Zach yelled. He snored. Go figure.

Ichiro and his select party members walked up to the entrance to the path, but stopped in front because a gate had been erected in the entrance.

"Nu entrenc allued" Ichiro read out loud.

"Looks like goblin writing to me." Rick stated.

"What does that mean?" The inquisitive Engle asked.

"We're in for trouble, that's what!" Selena squeaked.

"Oh, do calm down." Asuka said. "We can handle the illiterate idiots. They have as much brains as pond scum" She said snidely

"I knew this wouldn't be easy, but this is ridiculous." Ichiro muttered. "We still need to find a stone key to get in."

"What does that look like?" Engle asked again.

"Look for a round millstone shaped disk of stone that has a hole in the side. It resembles a crescent moon." Rick responded.

"Gotcha." Engle said, although he looked as if he was clueless. He then took his bucket helmet out from under his arm and proceeded to put it over his head.

"How DO you see with that bucket on your head?' Selena asked.

"I don't." Engle replied innocently.

"Ok, enough idle chitchat. We need to find that key fast. We only have a day to do it, and I would like to be back at the wagon by sunset by the latest." Ichiro said. "Let's get to it!"

The caravanners took about fifteen minutes to find the key. Engle found it when he accidentally bumped into a goblin sleeping in the bushes about ten yards from the gate.

The goblin instantly shrieked and bounced up on its feet, while poor Engle fell on his behind and rolled around. The goblin swung his sword and missed Engle by a foot, and Engle got up and took his mace off his back. The goblin's sword stuck fast in the hard soil, and Engle jumped up in the air, came down, and brained the goblin. It crumpled and a crescent-shaped stone fell out of its pocket.

"Looks important. I'll keep it." Engle said. Little did he know this was the stone he was looking for. He went off to look some more, when he found Rick poking his head into a bush.

"Hey, Rick." Engle said.

Rick jumped with shock, and pulled his head out and ran into Engle.

They both fell backwards, and the stone fell out of Engle's pocket. Engle saw his prized possession fall on the dirt, and Rick saw it for what it was. They both leaned over too quickly, and their heads collided. Each of their helms rang like bells, and each sat for a moment, regaining their senses.

"OW!" Engle shouted. "That's mine!"

"Oh, come off it! This is the stone I told you about!" Rick snapped back.

"Oh…it is?" Engle asked blankly.

"Yes, it is!" Rick said rather harshly.

Engle started to tear up, when Rick stopped for a second, and said,

"I'm sorry, Engle. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. We need this stone key to get into the river belle path."

"Ok…I'll make sure I pay more attention to things from now on!" Engle said.

He seemed more cheery after the rest of the team got back to the crude wooden gate.

Ichiro had to look around for a bit to find the pedestal for the key. He finally found it after cutting away some creeping vines. He placed the stone in the groove on the top of the pedestal, and stepped back. The pedestal and stone lit up with blue light, and the top of the pedestal fused with the stone key and became one. The gate also lit up and the two halves of the gate started pulling back.

"Caution, my friends." Ichiro warned them. "This new gate is not a good sign. I've been reading my grandmother's journal, and the gate was not there before. Looking at it from here, it wasn't meant to keep creatures out, although it does help, but the structure supports the fact that it may be there to keep something IN."

Rick looked at it rather slowly, and walked up to it to examine it.

"Uh oh…by the looks of the gate, it's true." He said. "All of the braces on the inside are stronger than the outside ones. It won't budge from the inside." He looked at it again, and shivered violently. The shiver must have been contagious, because the rest of them shook like trees in the wind. Engle rattled like a heap of iron refuse, and his loud clanking brought everyone to his or her senses. Ichiro bopped him upside the head to catch his attention.

"We're going in." was all he said.

"Now listen to me" Ichiro told his friends a minute later. "There are gates here that are guarded by goblins. We need to find the keys. AGAIN. Watch out for other creatures, because the goblins are surely not the only ones here."

Everyone listened carefully to him for the next moment.

"Ok, Engle and I will rush the goblin chief, and the rest of you take out the wimps.

The leader most likely has the key. We just need to be sure that we aren't stabbed in the back. Got it?"

"Got it!" everyone replied.

"Good. forward…" everyone looked forward. "CHARGE!"

Everyone charged forward, and the goblins panicked like the cowards they are.

Ichiro and Engle instantly pounced upon the Chief, but it held its sword up so they collided with it and stunned themselves.

Meanwhile…

"GRAVITY!" Rick shouted. The goblin he hit tripped and stuck to the ground like glue, while the goblin behind him tripped over him and landed in front of Rick.

"GOOD DAY!" he shouted, and then he jumped up into the air and did a flip. He landed headfirst on the goblin, and his lopsided horn pierced it. Asuka had two goblins ganging up on her, and she was cornered. She got in a corner of two fences, and held her shield up, so that she was completely surrounded by wood and metal. The goblins looked stupidly at the shield, and just stood there watching. Asuka had changed her position, and then she kicked really hard, sending the shield soaring towards the goblins. Being too stupid to dodge, they both too a direct hit to the face from the shield, making the shield and their helmets ring loudly. Taking her chance, Asuka launched herself out of the corner and gracefully slashed both across the stomachs. Both fell without a sound. Selena, at the beginning of the battle, ran to a tree, climbed it up to the top, and got in a good spot so that she could start firing her bow upon the unsuspecting Goblins below. She hit one, two, and three… She was so busy shooting the goblins; she didn't notice one climbing the tree behind her. Just as he raised his sword to decapitate her, she pulled her bowstring way back, and her elbow connected with his head. He fell screaming out of the tree and hit the ground with a loud thud. Seeing him for the first time, she pulled another arrow out and shot him between the eyes.

Ichiro only saw stars flying throughout the heavens. Engle only saw the inside of his bucket. The goblin chief held his sword high, and prepared to slice Engle's helmet.

The sword bounced off the bucket and slashed the goblin's other hand. It howled with rage and agony, and Ichiro and Engle snapped out of their stupors. Ichiro and Engle rammed their weapons into the Goblin's chest, and it flew back a yard. They both jumped to their feet and ran to their fallen quarry. They then performed a cross-slash technique, where they slashed in opposite directions, and the Goblin fell over with a great big X cut into his body. Ichiro went forward and searched its pockets, and a moment later stood up beaming, with another crescent shaped stone in the raised palm of his hand.

He walked up to the next gate, and put the stone in the next pedestal.

The gate opened, and the band of friends gathered in front of the newly opened path.

They began to walk through, when Rick stopped them and told them to look at the gate. The backside of it had a great big slash mark on it, and the wood was crushed. Some parts of it were poorly repaired, but it was still quite sturdy.

_I wonder what that's from…_ Ichiro thought.

"I would assume the Creature has some very strong arms or claws on it, because even Engle couldn't do that much damage to it, even if he had an hour to do that. This was done with one blow." Rick said.

Everyone looked at him as if asking hopefully, "Are you kidding?"

Correctly interpreting the glances, Rick replied, "If you don't believe me, it will not be my fault if anybody dies of fright."

Everybody shook their head, and said, "Of course we believe you! Why shouldn't we?"

They said. Rick just nodded and gestured that they keep walking. They walked across the bridge behind the gate, and there was soon another gate in front of them. The gate guard was asleep, so Selena shot him between the eyes too, and went over and took the stone from his hands. She then stuck it in the next pedestal, and opened the gate. The rest of the group followed suit, and sneaked along the gate's side so that they did not attract any attention. After getting around to the other side, the kids sat down and took a breather.

When they sat down, the ground in front of them started to shake a little, and a Mu came out of the dirt. It looked at Ichiro for a second, and then it hit him upside the head with its large-ended tail. Ichiro fell on his back and was once again staring at the clouds, watching stars dance at the edges of his vision. Asuka pounced on top of it and smashed it with her shield. Then she picked up a nearby water urn an turned it upside down on Ichiro's head.

"Wake up!" She said.

He spit the water out of his mouth, and then stood up.

"I hate being wet." He muttered.

They continued walking until they came to a part of the river where there was a broken bridge that went across. They walked across, with Ichiro leading the way, for he had the surest feet. They got over, after Ichiro had to fish Engle out of the water twice.

_Now I'm not the only wet one. _He thought.

The small band of friends continued along the banks of the river, when they came to a part where the river went through a small cave. They kept walking, with the river at their left, and the cave wall at their right. Ichiro, after a minute in the darkness, saw a sliver of light.

"LIGHT!" He shouted. He began to run, and the rest of the group followed him.

They came out in a small clearing, with a small pond and a waterfall.

"Wow, I can see a rainbow!" Asuka said. They all looked at the dancing light, except for Ichiro.

_I sense something…………._He said in his head.

He looked at the waterfall's base, and there was a silhouette.

"WHOA! WATCH OUT! He shouted. At that moment, the creature jumped out of the water and attacked.


	5. Guardian of the River Belle

Chapter 4: Guardian of the River Belle

As the Creature came clear of the water, everyone's face's contorted with horror.

The giant beast was a mutant crab. The Giant Crab, as it was called, had an orange/brown body that was covered with armor-like scales that looked as hard as steel, and its eyes were big, and duh, crab-like. It had a long, thin claw that was like a large scythe, and its other claw was big like a shield. The big claw, while immobile, was very hard, and it had the remains of spears, swords, and arrows sticking out of it. It had its big claw draped over its back to protect some large thing on its back that looked like a spider-web ball. It looked sinister in the sunset, and even in its dull, soulless eyes, everybody could see it was bent on their demise.

The Crab began to rub its scythe claw on the shield claw, and the late day air began to crackle fiercely.

"RUN!" Ichiro shouted, feeling his own hair stand on end from the tremendous static charge. Everybody leapt out of the way, and the crab shot a huge bolt of lightning off of the embedded weapons on its claw. The bolt burnt the ground, and the grass was reduced to glowing cinders.

"Watch out for that long claw!" Ichiro shouted to his friends. "If that claw hits you, you'll be cut down like wheat!"

Just then, he ducked and the claw in question cut the top of Ichiro's hair off. He jumped at the chance and hacked at the scythe claw. The sword ripped through the metallic armor and partially severed it. The crab hissed lividly, and tried to smash him with its big claw. He rolled out of the way and slashed at the claw, but his sword hit one of the other weapons on its claw, and it shocked him. His sword flew into the pond, and he jumped back to avoid being cut by the crab's scythe. The weakened claw flew off with the fast swing, and it was headed for Rick. He jumped out of the way, and the claw was embedded in the tree behind him. Hissing again, the crab looked to the sky, and the air around the pond began to feel static again. Ichiro had leapt into the pond the moment before, and was now threatened with being shocked to death by a lightning strike.

Selena had a shrewd idea that the lightning had something to do with the spider-web thing, and she shot an arrow right at the webs. Catching on, the crab spun around with super speed and blocked the arrow with its remaining claw. Ichiro seized his sword and thanked his stars he wasn't frying in the water that moment. He ran out of the water right behind the crab while it was preoccupied with Engle. He slashed its two rear legs off, and it lost its balance and fell flat on its belly. Asuka took her chance and ran right up to the beast's face and quickly severed its eyes from its body. Hissing and spitting violently, the crab tried to smash her. She ran to the side while it blindly smashed the ground where she was moments before. Ichiro ran up again, and whistled Engle over. They both ran at the crab together, and they performed their cross slash attack again. The large claw instantly disintegrated, and the crab fell down again with the force of the blow. It got back up rather clumsily, and it started spitting bubbles at the group. The bubbles caught them off guard, and they were magically slowed down. The air got static again, and a huge bolt hit the ground right in the middle of the group. They were flung back from the resultant electrical explosion and they landed in various places. Time slowed down again for Ichiro, and he managed to catch himself in midair. He landed on his feet, and he felt the air heating up around him. He thought the crab was casting Thundaga again, so he jumped out of the way. He burst into flames, and his clothes were instantly dried. The crab started to scuttle away from him in terror, when he realized what was happening.

"I DON'T THINK SO!" He shouted. He ran towards the beast, and jumped into the air. He flew up a hundred feet into the air, and then he plummeted down towards the earth. He shouted to Rick

"USE GRAVITY!"

Catching on quickly, Rick used gravity, and Ichiro fell even faster. Wondering if he was going to survive the collision, he hit the crab right in the center of its back, and the very air around the clearing caught on fire. All the friends could see was red everywhere, but where Ichiro and the crab were. They both shone like the sun, and the light was too bright, pure, and terrible to look at. The crab disintegrated, and its ashes blew away off into the wild.

Ichiro's clothes were singed, but otherwise, he was fine.

"The fight's over, people. Time to get the myrrh." he said simply.

He walked up to the Myrrh tree and placed his amulet on top of a stone that sat directly under the tree.

The Myrrh tree glowed just like the village crystal, and it radiated a feeling of peace and healing. The tree glowed brightly for a moment, and then a ball of light formed and dropped toward the amulet. The amulet glowed like a star, and then it looked normal after a moment.

"Let's get back to the wagon. It's late…." Ichiro said.

"KUPO!" something shouted.

Everyone jumped and pulled their weapons out at the sudden noise.

"Relax, kupo! It's me, the mailmoogle, kupo!"

Everybody sighed and put their weapons away and sat down.

"Here's your mail, kupo!" The moogle then flew over to Ichiro with a letter in its mouth.

Moogles carry stuff in their mouths because they don't have any fore paws to hold stuff.

The moogle hovered in front of Ichiro, and he gently took the envelope from the moogle's mouth. Then the moogle flew off and gave everybody else a letter. He recognized the writing on the envelope to be Roland's, so he quickly opened it and pulled the letter out and unfolded it.

"Dear Ichiro,

By the time you get this letter, you may have already obtained the myrrh from the river belle path. I have no advice to offer, but I can give you words of caution. I can feel it way down deep in my bones. Everything is not as it once was. Things are changing, and it is many times more dangerous out there now then they were when I was in the caravan.

Ichiro, promise me you will be back here as fast as you can once you've found enough myrrh. If you cannot find enough myrrh to power your amulet, come home anyways.

Not all will be lost. Be cautious, and do not be careless. That may be the last thing you do. Good luck, and may we see you soon. Godspeed!

-Roland-

_Hmmm…….._ Ichiro thought. _Something is telling me he's very worried about something._

_I wonder what happened?..._

Engle looked to his right to see Ichiro standing there, hanging his head down with his eyes closed, and the letter hanging in his hand by his side.

"Something wrong?" He asked shyly.

"Huh?... oh, nothing…" Ichiro said, not all that truthfully.

"Suit yourself. We're here to help you if you need it, you know. You're not alone." Rick said.

Ichiro looked over at Rick and gave a confident smile. "Heh, thanks for the offer, Rick, but I can handle it."

Selena looked over concernedly and asked, "You sure everything is all right?"

Ichiro crossed his arms and closed his eyes while saying, "Positive."

Everybody else just shrugged and finished reading their letters and replying, while he sat down and glanced at his letter again. Then he pulled out a feather quill and a bottle of ink and hastily wrote down his response on a fresh sheet of parchment.

"Dear Roland,

Rest assured, we will be home as fast as is possible. It is indeed as you said, things are strange. I have been reading my grandmother's diary, and the river belle then and the one that is now are both very different. Then, they were able to walk almost straight to the myrrh tree without much hassle, but today, when we were going through the river belle, there were gates that were made to hold something in the deeper recesses of the path. We forced our way though all the obstacles and found ourselves in front of a giant crab. It was terribly strong and we barely made it out of that fight alive! If I am not mistaken, the goblins managed to catch it and they were planning on doing something with it. I have a request to ask of you. Increase the security of the village, and repair that barricade.

Keep the bridge up at all times and put the reinforced barricade in position so that the goblins and whatever else is out there cannot get in. Get bishop's parents and have them develop some sort of weapon to use against our enemies. Roland, I just want to remind you that you are not the only one who has his eyes opened. By the way, have the scouts keep their eyes open from now on, and have them report to you fairly often.

That is all I have to say. I will tell you if I see anything disturbing or troubling.

Be careful, Roland. Tipa village needs you!

-Ichiro-

"There! That should do it!" Ichiro said triumphantly. Hey! Moogle!" He shouted.

"I have my letter ready!" He waved his hand to get his attention.

"Ok, Kupo!" He said, sounding annoyed. He flew over and took the letter in his mouth just as Ichiro finished placing a wax seal on the back of the envelope.

"By the way, Kupo." He said with his mouth full of letter. "My name is Archie, Kupo!"

He then turned around and flew away because he had already gotten everybody else's letters.

"Sorry, Archie!" Ichiro apologized. "Friends, now it's time to get back to the wagon. It's been a VERY long day."


	6. Lost in Thought

Chapter 5: Lost in Thought

The victorious caravaners made their way through the now calm river belle without being bothered by monsters. They finally had time to take in the beauty of the scenery and the full moon in the clear, dark blue sky. They got back to the wagon, and they saw their friends sitting around a cheery campfire.

"HEY! WE DID IT!" Ichiro shouted triumphantly. He ran to the campsite with his friends on his heels, holding his amulet high above his head. All of a sudden, the surrounding area disappeared and Ichiro was standing in darkness. The surrounding area returned, but all of the color was missing, and all of it was black and white. He tried to move his legs, but he seemed to be frozen to the spot. He looked down at his legs, and he was shocked. He was transparent. He looked around for his friends, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Starting to get worried, he tried again to move, but to no avail. He was struggling when he heard someone singing. He looked around, and he saw a Clavat that was close to his own age. She was walking along with a few of her friends, when he looked at the weapons they were holding. He was so shocked, he tried to yell, but he forgot he couldn't make a sound. He saw a very young Roland that was holding the very same sword as himself. The singing woman he assumed was his own grandmother, and there were a few others that he didn't know anything about. At the back of the procession was a clavat that had an unfamiliar sword that had a very jagged edge, and a thick hilt that had a round gem fairly close to the size of a cherry. He wondered if that was the missing sword Roland told him about. By the time the thought occurred to him, the group of strangers walked right through him, leaving him staring at the entrance to the river belle path. He found that he could turn himself around, just not move. He looked at the caravaners, and found that they were returning to their wagon much like he was a minute ago.

Suddenly, there was a war cry, and tons of goblins came running down the path.

The caravaners drew their weapons and fought their way to the wagon, while Roland and the guy that had the strange sword continued to fight the small army. The two put their swords together and did a fancy sword dance that sparkled with lightning and fire. The goblins were pushed back slightly, but now Roland and the stranger were surrounded by hundreds of goblins.

"Are you ready for what may be our last battle, Beregond?" Roland asked sadly.

"Ready to the death, Roland." He replied.

They put their swords together and focused their energy to the blades they held, and their swords began to react by glowing and sending off sparks. They spun them around to mix the energy together, and they produced a giant flaming ball of lightning. They then spun their swords around in complete mirror movements of each other, and the ball of fire and lightning flew into the middle of the crowd of goblins. It exploded when it hit the ground, and fireballs flew all over the place while the lightning blew outward like a shockwave.

At least a hundred goblins were taken out by the attack, and the rest were angry ant the destruction of their brethren. The goblins all began chanting and moving forward.

Worn out by their strong attack, Roland and Beregond were having a hard time getting back to the wagon. Ichiro stood by, looking at all that was happening.

_It doesn't look very good for my ancestors….. _Ichiro thought. Just then, his grandmother

ran out to assist Roland and Beregond. She helped them both get up and she helped support them both. They made their way back to the wagon, when a goblin jumped out of the bushes and scared the papopotumus, and the poor thing ran as fast as it could, with all of the caravaners inside except for his grandmother, Roland, and Beregond.

_No! Run! You still have a chance!_

They continued to walk, but the goblins were coming quickly. Then his grandmother pulled Marina out of its scabbard and took her shield off her back. She looked at the goblins and gave them a look that would kill. She stood on the spot, but seemed to be focusing her energy for something. Then a green light surrounded both of the boys, and they seemed refreshed.

_So that's what cure magic looks like…_

The boys got back up, and Beregond said to his friend quietly, "Roland, if anything happens to me, take care of Lyn for me…"

He then stood up to his full height, and held his hands out while spacing his legs out a little, with the sword in his right hand. He closed his eyes and focused his energy again. The whole area darkened, and the sky was covered in clouds.

"RUN!" He shouted. "I'LL HOLD THEM OFF! GO!"

Roland's eyes misted over, and he struggled to keep Lyn moving. She stood rooted to the spot, and seemed to be saying one last thing to Beregond. Roland Picked Lyn up and ran away from the goblins, and the best friend he ever had. Beregond continued to focus, but a tear dropped from his eye. He opened his eyes one last time, and raised his sword to the sky.

"FURY OF THE SKIES! WASH THIS FILTH AWAY WITH YOUR RAGE!"

The clouds above turned pitch black and lightning shot through the clouds. The whole sky lit up and a giant bolt of lightning hit Beregond and a huge jolt of electricity shot through the air and washed over the army of goblins. They all screeched loudly and vaporized as the lightning heated the air up, making it hotter than the sun. The whole area lit up, and Ichiro thought for a second that he was going to die. Then he remembered.

_Hey, this is just a memory. Duh._

He opened his eyes and looked at the surrounding area, only to see everything charred black, and the sword sticking upright in the soil, but Beregond was nowhere to be seen. Just then, a thought hit Ichiro like a cannon ball.

_Roland said he lost his friend… _

Then he looked up to see the wagon with everybody else now getting out. Lyn and Roland were by far the saddest looking people standing there, and the two walked up to the sword slowly, hand in hand.

_It looks like both Lyn and Roland were good friends with him…_

_I wonder what Beregond meant by, "take care of her for me."…._

Then they both sat down rather heavily, and both started to weep very hard. The scenery around him faded, and Ichiro found himself standing in front of his friends, still holding his amulet high above his head. He looked about confusedly, and asked,

"What just happened?"

Bishop looked at him curiously, "We're the ones who should be asking you that. We've been standing here for about fifteen minutes, watching you."

"Uh, really?" He asked. "I'm just tired." He lied.

Then Bishop shook his head, "Well, if that is the case, go lie down over by the campfire.

I'm finishing up cooking dinner."

Just then, Portia yelled, "BISHOP! You're burning the stew!"

Bishop squawked and spun around and took the pot off the fire so fast, everybody barely knew what just happened.

"Ok, well, I'm going to go to bed now. I'm not hungry." Ichiro said.

Everybody just looked at him like he was out of his mind.

"Uh….uh…..Good night..." he stuttered. He went to the wagon and bodily threw himself inside. Before going to bed, he dug around inside of his pack, and found his Grandmother's diary. He climbed up to his bunk on the inside of the wagon, and lit a lamp and hung it on a hook in the ceiling. Then he got into his bed and slipped under his covers and opened his grandmother's diary once more. He skimmed through the book and looked at every page until he found a page titled "A dear friend lost" He began to read it slowly, looking for information about what else happened that day.

Dear diary,

That one day had to have been the worst day of my life… Roland and I were very close to Beregond…We grew up with him, and I knew him all my life. I have never seen Roland so sad before. He grew up with Beregond too. We three were inseparable. He always did think in a strange way, I do not see why he thought he had to sacrifice himself. That weapon is just too dangerous…When we got back to Tipa, we brought that cursed sword back with us, and gave it to Beregond's family, along with his sad last moments. They were so heartbroken, but there was nothing I could do but tell them he did not suffer. They moved back to the fields of Fum, where they had lived before they moved to Tipa. They took the sword with them and kept it as an heirloom and a memory of the long lost boy. I miss him so bad, but there is nothing to be done. The life of a caravaner is too cruel.

-Lyn-

_Hmm…….._

He looked at the top of the page, only to see it was dated back seventy years.

_Man, that's forever ago. that sword could be anywhere. Seventy years………_

_I promised to Roland that I would find that sword; I can see why it meant so much to him._

_It would almost be like finding his friend again. I vow to find it and return it. But then what if somebody else has the sword…Great. This isn't going to be easy._

He sighed, and continued to flip the pages of the book, when he came to a page that was dated back fifty years.

_Huh….it says… My wedding day…who was my grandfather anyways?_

He read the page slowly, and decided to skip all the idle love-sick thoughts.

…………..You know, after all of this nonsense, I forgot to say who I was marrying! How absolutely silly of me! My new husband is….

Ichiro looked at the book, then the wall, and then he did a double take of the page in the book, and slumped on his bed out cold.

"ICHIRO! Rise and shine!" someone shouted.

Ichiro jumped out of his covers and took a quick look around the wagon. Selena was standing in the rear door, grinning madly.

"Somebody's slept in their clothes!" she said in a sing-song voice.

"Ah, dang! I was tired last night." He said while yawning.

She laughed and looked back at him. "You even slept with a book on your face."

"Like I said, I was tired." He grunted. "I've been up two days straight. One driving and the other fighting. Give me a break." He pleaded.

"Fine. It's fun teasing you in the morning." She finished.

Ichiro stretched in bed, and got down and put his book back in his pack.

Suddenly getting an idea for getting his revenge on Selena for making fun of him, he shouted, "Oh, Has anybody looked at the LIST I wrote? Guess whose turn it is to drive?..."

Later

The afternoon sun found a grumpy Selena sitting in the front of the wagon, holding the reins that were attached to the papopotumus. Ichiro, Bishop, Asuka, and Zach were inside the wagon, while the rest were outside walking or sitting on the back of the wagon.

Ichiro sat in his bed, reading the diary, while Bishop sat down on the floor, continuing to write down spells, and studying the weapons.

_I bet Bishop will figure those weapons out someday. There isn't a thing he hasn't figured out yet that he put his mind to. _

Asuka and Zach were both sleeping. Asuka was sleeping because the fight yesterday took a lot out of her, and Zach was sleeping because that's just what he does.

Bishop seemed to be making progress with his herb summoning magic, because the food he cooks just keeps getting better. He was frustrated, though, because he wasn't making progress with the weapons. He did detect a strange myrrh presence inside of Ichiro's weapon, but what use was that?

"Might as well start what with what I have." He muttered sadly.

"I wonder what that myrrh substance is? It seems more powerful than normal myrrh…This has me stumped, I admit."

Ichiro looked down at Bishop, and asked, "You don't really need to talk to yourself, do you?'

Bishop snapped back to reality, and looked in Ichiro's direction. "No, I don't need to, but it seems I have made a bad habit of it..." he said ruefully.

Ichiro replied, "Look, it doesn't matter that much. I don't mind, but you might want to see if anybody else minds. I'll let you get back to your work, ok?"

"Ok, Ichiro. I'll redouble my efforts! Quietly, though." Bishop said.


	7. The Miasma Stream

Chapter 6: The Miasma Stream

_Well, I definitely have something to look forward to when I get back home._

Ichiro thought idly._ Time to confront…_

He was cut off in mid-thought, because Selena shouted from the front of the wagon,

"Visitors!"

"Who is it this time?" He shouted back.

"Dunno, maybe Alfitaria's caravan?"

"Worth looking into, I guess!" He replied.

He got ready to jump out the back of the wagon and walk out to the front, but the wagon hit a large bump in the road that sent him flying out of the back like an arrow. He landed on his face, and proceeded to spit gravel out of his mouth, when the leader of the new caravan, a lilty in black full-body armor, to be exact, shouted,

"Hello, Tipa-landers!" The stranger called.

_Thanks, but it's not like we live in a different country or anything!_ He thought sarcastically. He then spit the gravel out, and managed to say,

"Hello………sorry, but what is your name?" He asked apologetically.

"Oh, excuse me." The lilty chuckled. "I'm Sol Racht."

"Uh, nice name…" Ichiro responded slowly. "I'm Ichiro." He replied.

"I heard Tipa was sending another caravan." Sol said thoughtfully. "I might add, you look quite capable."

Ichiro looked down at the ground and started to scratch the back of his head.

"Uh, thanks……I guess…" He said the last part quietly.

"Well, we will have time to talk later, it seems. I have an appointment with somebody, so I'm sort of in a hurry." Sol said.

"I just wish to talk to you for a moment, though." He added.

"Well, my caravan isn't in any hurry, so shoot." Ichiro said.

"Watch out for the Miasma Stream ahead. It flows more strongly now than it used to, and it now is quite dangerous to pass. Just be careful, and you should do fine. And also, Strange things have been going on lately, And people have reported strange events. Do NOT wander from the paths. Even the roads are becoming dangerous, and safety is no longer even a remote possibility. You would do well to train your comrades, and even go as far as to get more members."

Then Sol looked at the wagon, and the people inside.

"Although, it does look a little cramped inside there." He added.

"We have somebody with us that we picked up on the side of the road, and it just happens that he was looking for you."

Sol turned back to his own wagon, and called, "Stiltzkin! We finally found the caravan from Tipa village! Time to go!"

There was a muffled response from the wagon. "Ok, I'm coming! Just give me a moment."

After a lot of loud clattering of weapons and shouting of angry lilties, an old, fat moogle jumped out of the wagon, and waddled over to Ichiro.

"Well, I just wanted to travel with you young folks for a bit." The moogle said.

"I have some things I need to discuss with you." He added.

"Sure." Ichiro replied simply.

"Just make sure you're careful not to wake up Zach."

"Which one is Zach?" He asked curiously.

"The one in the back snoring like a great big saw." Ichiro said laughing.

"And in case he isn't snoring at the moment, just ask around, or stay away from sleeping people."

"I see." Stiltzkin replied.

Then he waddled up to the wagon, and, surprisingly, bounced from the ground right onto the bench next to Selena.

"Why don't you say kupo all the time?" Selena asked rather stupidly.

"I'm not sure, but it seems all the younger moogles say it a lot. They address everybody as 'kupo'"

Selena was about to ask something, but Stiltzkin just shook his furry little body, and said,

"Don't even bother to ask what it means, I haven't a clue."

Sol looked back at Ichiro and said, "Anyways, make sure you report any strange events to the Alfitarian military. On the other hand, you can tell me if you find me, and I'll pass the word on. Whichever is more convenient for you."

"Thanks, Sol." Ichiro said.

"I'll make sure to let you or the military know."

"Thanks, but I have to go now!" Sol replied hurriedly.

"Good luck Sol, may we meet again!"

Sol ran over to his wagon, and with some difficulty, got onto the driver's seat. Then he jerked the reins, and his papopotomus started to go forward slowly. he jerked the reins again, and the creature reared backwards, and shot forward like a bullet. His wagon disappeared over the horizon quite soon, and Ichiro and his friends were once again the only people on the road. Ichiro just shrugged and went towards his own wagon, and jumped up into the driver's seat along with Selena and Stiltzkin. Stiltzkin got squeezed, and he fell of the back of the bench and into the wagon.

"Sorry, Stiltzkin." Ichiro called over his shoulder. Stiltzkin just humphed and bounced up to the higher shelves near the top of the wagon. Then he waddled around until he found a folded blanket, and he laid back on it.

"Selena, I'll drive the wagon now." Ichiro offered.

"Thanks, I think my back's breaking. We need to make a back part for this seat."

"I'm sorry about earlier, Selena. I won't make you drive again."

"That's ok. It's sort of fun to drive, but it can be painful."

"Aw, quit your whining." Ichiro replied jokingly. "If you need to, lay down. I'll take over."

Selena turned around and swung her feel over the back of the seat, and walked over to her bed and lay down too, looking at the bottom of the bed above her.

Ichiro sat in the front of the wagon alone for a minute, while the papopotumus continued to trot along. After a while, the sun began to set again, and he called his friends back into the wagon. They all sat on the inside of the wagon, and did various activities, like playing board games, and reading books they brought along. Bishop continued his studies of the weapons, and when Asuka finally woke up, she took one glance at Stiltzkin, squealed with joy, and she seized him and practically squeezed the life out of him. The poor surprised moogle started to turn blue, when Ichiro said,

"Asuka, I think that's enough. I know you like moogles, but let Stiltzkin go. You're suffocating him."

Asuka opened her eyes, and saw that Stiltzkin was about to faint from lack of air. She put him down next to Ichiro carefully, and patted his little bon bon affectionately. Then she went over to Sella and Anna, who were now busy playing a game.

"Sorry about that, Stiltzkin." Ichiro apologized. "Asuka like all things cute and fluffy. Don't hold any grudges against her. She can't exactly help it." He said while grinning.

"No, it's quite all right." He wheezed. "I'm used to that sort of treatment. All moogles are."

"You sure about that?" Ichiro inquired.

"Almost…."

"Why's that?"

"Just never mind…"

"Uh…..sure, whatever."

"Ah, there was one thing I wanted to talk to you about."

"And what would that be?"

"Are your teammates trained professionally?

"Why do you ask?"

"You see, I may not look like it, but I'm an instructor for the Alfitarian military, and I train soldiers. I am also a seasoned adventurer."

"Man, I would never have known that from looking at you."

"Yes, most everybody I say that to ridicules me, but it's true. I've probably been on the receiving end of more practical jokes than anybody else on this continent."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ichiro laughed.

"Oh well, never mind that. I wanted to tell you that I'm willing to travel along with you for a while, and also train your members so that you'll stand a better chance out in the wild."

"Sounds good to me. We all could use some advice. Some more than others….."

Then Ichiro looked over his shoulder over at Zach, only to see him sprawled all over his bed and drooling into his pillow.

"Yeah, some of us definitely could use some help." He remarked with a grimace.

"But, we need to do some other things before we have the time to practice any. Tell you what, let's worry about training After we get passed the miasma stream."

"Fine with me. I'll be traveling with you indefinitely anyways, so it doesn't matter at the moment."

"And speaking of miasma streams, aren't those clouds over there miasma clouds, or are we going to get wet AGAIN?"

"Indeed, they are miasma clouds. No rain today."

"Thank goodness." Ichiro sighed contentedly.

"Don't you dare let your guard down, though." Stiltzkin said warningly. "Miasma storms are much more dangerous than you think."

Ichiro looked down and closed his eyes, and heaved a great big sigh. "Great, something else to worry about."

"Quit worrying. As long as you have a crystal chalice or the unique amulet around your neck, it shouldn't be a big problem. So relax."

"Whatever." Ichiro muttered.

They sat still for a while, and finally both of them relaxed and loosened up.

"Hey, Stiltzkin." Ichiro said.

"Yes?"

"Don't take this in a mean way….but you're a little pushy.'

"And how would that be so?"

"In a way, you're telling me what to do, and I've only known you for, what, ten minutes?"

"Humph! I'll be quiet."

"Yes you will, Stiltzkin. I'm just being nice right now. I don't have to bring you with me, and I'm smart enough to know that moogles aren't affected by miasma…but here I am giving you a ride anyways."

"Are you saying you'll make me walk?"

"I was thinking of that, but I thought I would rather let Asuka take care of you." Ichiro said matter of factly, with a trace of a grin.

"You wouldn't." Stiltzkin said stubbornly.

"I would." Ichiro replied, now grinning madly. "Asuka!"

She appeared out of nowhere, and somehow she knew what was going on.

"Asuka, would you like to play with Stiltzkin?"

"I don't know what you mean by playing with him, but sure!" She said happily.

Stiltzkin squirmed nervously, thinking he was going to get tortured, but Asuka picked him up gently, and took him back into the wagon. She sat back down on her bed with the old moogle in her hands, and she began to pet his little bon bon.

Knowing he now had the moogle out of his hair for the moment, he moved to the middle of the bench and settled down.

Later

The caravan continued on its way, and now the miasma storm loomed overhead menacingly, with purple bolts of lightning darting across the skies every moment, threatening to smash the pitiful insignificant wagon any second.

Ichiro looked back into the wagon with a worried expression. "So, Stiltzkin, any idea why the storms are so bad?"

He was answered with a surprisingly loud snore that came from the moogle himself.

Ichiro looked back again, and saw that he was lying on top of Asuka's pillow, who was also asleep.

"Sheesh, should I even bother?"

He sat back on his seat and hunched his shoulders grumpily.

Then he sighed heavily. The dark and gloomy scenery was getting to him.

"OK! I'M GOING TO DRIVE THOUGH THE MIASMA STREAM NOW!"

He shouted. Everybody inside the wagon jumped in surprise

and Anna replied in her gentle voice,

"That was not necessary, but thank you for the warning." She smiled.

"Uh…Sorry." He mumbled

He turned around in his seat again, and urged the papaopatumus to go on.

The poor gentle creature was terrified to death, even though it had been through miasma streams a few times.

The place itself was very windy, and the path was narrow. The path was a stone bridge worn out by eons of wind and the river of water below. It was wide enough for one wagon to pass, and the bridge was thin and brittle now. The jagged edge of the bridge was decorated with the rusty remains of swords and spears, likely the empty graves of those who had fallen to the darkness. The water below, in days of old, was as clear as the Myrrh that the caravaners crossing it now fought to obtain. Now, water no longer flows beneath. Miasma rages underneath like a river of death. Sturdy trees that once grew in the river's gentle caress are now besieged with the physical form of death, and the trees are nothing but hollow mockeries of what once stood in beauty. Strangely, the miasma has elemental properties that make it do strange things. One year, it is charged with water, the next it is the fires from the depths. To pass, the crystal that protects the caravan must be charged with the same element as the stream. To create discord with the element within prevents passage, and again, to pass the crystal has to be the same element as the miasma.

Now, The River is charged with water, so the fog that lurks in the dead forest and the miasma below was navy blue in color. In the glow of the fog, if you looked carefully, you could see shapes in the fog that moved of their own accord, and travelers speak of them as ghosts of the fallen, or the demons that came along with the miasma. Truly, these are the lands of the dead.

Ichiro finally had to get out of his seat and lead his papaopamus by getting its favorite treat and tempting it across the bridge. When he got to the other side, he got back in his seat, and gave the reins a mighty jerk. The sudden movement spooked the beast, and it took off with the wagon behind it bouncing on the ground as it struggled to keep together.

That night, as everybody sat around a warm campfire, everybody but Ichiro was nursing some sort of injury. They all glared at him some time or another at least once, even Anna. When the time came to go to sleep, he slept all by his lonesome on the other side of the fire.


	8. Mushroom Forest of Mushrooms

Sorry, people! I should have stuck some author notes on the last few chapters, but i just plumb forgot! so sorry for the inconvieniance! I will make sure that i have notes more often.

And thank you, My first reviewer! You have made my day. And as thanks, i offer the next chapter to this ridiculously long story!

(Well, it's not long yet... someday, it will be!)

Chapter Seven: The Mushroom Forest

"Aw, come on! Lay off me!" Ichiro shouted to his mutinous friends as they tried to dethrone Ichiro. They were still sore from last night, and nobody wanted him to drive today, or the rest of the week for that matter. Finally, Engle managed to get a grip on Ichiro's leg, and he yanked him hard. Ichiro came off his seat and landed hard on his rear.

After that, Ichiro willingly went to his bed to nurse his broken tailbone. He carefully lay down, but he kept hurting himself, and he just decided to tough it out. One thing was certain. He would not be going into the Mushroom Forest today. Not with a powderized tailbone.

Confident that their leader was incapacitated for the moment, the rest of the caravaners planned the next move. After lots of complaining, it was finally decided that Bishop would lead the group into the woods, with Sella, Anna, Portia, and Zachary in tow.

The ones that complained were the ones going, and the ones that stayed behind rejoiced.

Frankly, Ichiro didn't care about it at all. Anything to stop the pain.

Everybody that went into the woods took their weapons with them. Bishop was declared the team healer, and the rest were the attackers.

The Mushroom Forest…A patch of the world riddled with a maze of gigantic fungus. Many paths crisscross throughout the forest, with the main path to the Myrrh tree a one-way trip. The whole forest is made of mushrooms, with some of the paths being made of grey, smooth, stone-like mushrooms fused together to make the path. The sides of the path are decorated with mushrooms as tall as trees, and some the size of bushes. Fortunately, the paths are obvious enough, until it comes to a dead end…

Bishop turned around and held up his hands to get the attention of his followers, and stated,

"Now listen to me for a moment. I haven't been here before, so basically, I know as much as you do. Just stick together, and we should do fine."

Zach replied with a rude snore, and everybody turned, only to see him asleep on his feet.

Portia lost her cool, and she jumped up into the air and smacked the top of his head with the broad side of her spear. He lost his balance and fell backwards, but he woke up.

"Man…you didn't have to do that…" He sighed.

"If you just kept your lazy butt awake, you wouldn't be such a problem!" She snapped.

Zach looked hurt, but Portia already started to walk in the other direction, so she didn't notice. Anna walked up and took Zach's hand, and she helped him up. He smiled at her, and she blushed. Normally, she kept to herself.

"HELLO! We going anywhere TODAY!?!?!" Portia yelled.

"Oh. Right" Bishop said. Anna just blushed more.

"Portia, calm down. We don't want to attract any monsters." Sella said soothingly.

"Let them come! The stupid idiots won't last a second!" Portia yelled back.

Unknown to the group, a few monsters were spying on the from behind a mushroom. And they heard every word said.

There were three gremlins, and two hedgehog pies. (I have no idea why they are called that.)

"Let's show them how monsters can really fight!" One of the gremlins hissed. One of the hedgehog pies nodded it's head, and said in a stony voice,

"That wench needs to learn her place!'Won't last a second!' Ha! I think we have a point to make!" It said.

"Portia, you're being loud enough! I will have to ask you to shut up." Bishop snapped uncharacteristically. Portia clamped her mouth shut, but she looked like she was itching to argue. Behind Portia, five shadows leapt from behind a mushroom by the side of the path.

"YEAH, wench!" one of the gremlins shrieked.

Everybody whipped around with their weapons ready, even Zach.

"Portia, once again your dulcet tones have found a way to cause trouble." Bishop said.

Portia's face turned red with rage, and she looked like she was about to explode any second.

"Was that necessary?" Anna asked Bishop quietly.

"No, but she fights better when she's in a towering rage." Zach snickered. "Those monsters don't stand a chance."

"OH YEAH!?!?!?" The gremlin shrieked, just as mad as Portia. "Get them!"

The monsters pounced on the hapless caravaners, and each had their hands full with a monster.

Zach had the easiest time disposing of his opponent. He kept dodging to the side to avoid the gremlin's bulb on its head. The gremlin swung its bulb around like a mace, and Zach

continued to dodge it. He waited for it to lose its balance, and when it did, he disconnected its bulb and stomped it. The gremlin screamed in pain, and fell down dead.

Anna, at the beginning of the battle, had to jump backwards to doge one of the hedgehog's spiny attacks. It jumped up in the air and attempted to body slam her, but she held up her shield. It bashed its head on the shield, and stunned itself. Then she cleanly cleaved it in two before it could do anything else.

Portia went head to head with her prey. She dashed up to the hedgehog she was attacking, and attempted to bash its face in with the spear's handle. Only, the monster caught the spear, and both of the fighters went down in a struggle for dominion of the weapon. When the beast was least expecting it, Portia rammed her head into its face and stunned it. Then she yanked her weapon form its numb clutches, and speared it right in the belly.

It died as fast as snuffing out a candle.

Sella dodged left and right to avoid the hedgehog's spines while she charged up her magical energy. When she was ready, she focused all her energy to her magic ring, and mentally willed the energy to build up in the opponent's body. When she was finished, she merely released her energy, and the hedgehog's body exploded into fierce flames.

It screeched one last time before another burst of flame reduced it to cinders.

Bishop had more trouble on his end. He wasn't built for battling, but being naturally clever, developed a plan. He waited for the Gremlin leader to swing its bulb around, and then he braced his staff right in the swing path. The bulb and its stalk wrapped around the staff, and then Bishop grasped the staff where the monster was now hopelessly stuck.

"Ready for a ride?" Bishop asked playfully while the monster looked on in horror. Bishop began to spin around in circles, with the gremlin speeding through the air like a mace. He gradually spun his way over to a mushroom, and with one sickening screech, the gremlin was dashed all over the mushroom.

Bishop merely unwrapped the bulb and stalk from his staff, and threw it at the deceased gremlin.

"Well, with that mess finished, now we can proceed calmly and quietly." He stopped. "As long as someone learns to keep their boasting to themselves."

The said person blushed profusely, and hid her face away in shame.

"I WAS right at least about how long they would last!" She countered.

"And it was your infallibly big mouth that got us in the situation in the first place."

Bishop replied coldly. "I will have to ask you to hold your tongue, or to face the consequences. We simply cannot have you endangering the caravan, and ultimately, our village."

Finally accepting defeat, Portia hung her head, and followed Bishop deeper into the forest of mushrooms. They came to a clearing at length, but unfortunately for them, more monsters were about than last time. The fighters gave it their all in the fight, using a few of the same tactics as last, only to find out there were three new enemies in the field.

There was the flying Ahriman, the ground bound Demon plants, and the small carrion worm. The Ahriman had big bat wings, and talons similar to dragon talons. Its mouth was lined with hundreds of miniature, needle-like teeth that could shear steel. Its one eye was bloodshot, with a fierce crimson iris that spelled death to those who treated it lightly.

The demon plants were twisted, carnivorous, demon possessed foliage that spit globs of dark-energy charged balls of sap, and did not hesitate to spew poison spores at any unwitting fool who strayed close. In appearance, its body consisted of a stump that was held a foot above ground by three woody roots that quickly drained the nearby soil of nutrients. Its head, if you could call it that, was a set of leaves arranged to form a gaping jaw that contained overlarge pneumatic veins that quickly gathered huge amounts of sap in the jaw, so when it was not attacking, it drooled poisonous water all over the ground.

The carrion worm, namely, fed upon what it was named after. It was about two feet in length, and it was sectioned like a giant caterpillar. Its color was a venomous green with a bright streak of yellow that ran down its back. Its head was also stumpy like most caterpillar heads, but it also had odd moth-like antennas that had a fuzzy appearance. It usually hid in the shadows and waited for battles to end before it gorged on gore, and its antennas were very adept at detecting potential threats. Rarely, it will be overcome with a bloodlust, and it will single-mindedly hunt down prey and spray them with accumulated toxins until it finally subdues it and feasts itself.

Today was an unlucky day for the soft, utterly untested caravaners. The only thing that saved them was Bishop's deep wisdom and knowledge of monsters. The group tackled the foes head on, and quickly disposed of the gremlins and hedgehogs. They had to dive to the sides as a demon plant spit a good gallon of toxic waste right in the thick of their position. Sella promptly fried the plant with her fire magic, while it exploded and drenched nearby monsters in boiling sap. A carrion worm was struck by the gore, and it went into a frenzy. Zach was too busy to notice the crazed insect headed for him, so Anna ran towards it to head it off. She split its head in half, and it curled up on the spot. Then she kicked the rolled up bug in the direction of another gremlin, and both the gremlin and worm soared over the cliff, with the gremlin screaming all the way down. The Ahriman was busy preying on the defenseless healer. It kept swooping down on him as he attempted to heal and support his friends. Repeatedly, Bishop was forced to lose his focus and dodge, or lose his head. He chose the first over the former, and unfortunately was unable to do anything but provide a distraction. The Ahriman swooped down again, and since he was backed up against a mushroom, there was little Bishop could do but hope to deflect the attack with his staff. The Ahriman seized the staff, with Bishop pitifully clinging to it. It jumped back to the skies, with Bishop in tow. When he saw where the beast was going with him, he realized that it was going to drop him off the cliff! He swung himself around on his staff, and managed to get up on the monster's back. He squarely hit it in the forehead with his fist, and the monster dropped his staff in shock.

Using his magic skills to summon the staff back to him, he managed to pull the staff within his reach. He grabbed it out of the air, and thrust the sharp, shining crystal end into the middle of the monster's eye. He was rewarded with and ear-slitting shriek and the Ahriman thrashed around in the air and caused Bishop to lose his balance. He fell off the back of the monster and landed on the top of a large toadstool, while the monster landed heavily on top of the gremlin and worm that fell earlier. The monster was dead before it hit the ground. Bishop got off the mushroom by magically slowing his fall speed after he jumped of, and he regrouped with his friends.

"That was the best flight of my life." Bishop said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Zach looked over playfully at Bishop, and casually remarked, "Hey, I thought you liked flying, bird-man!"

"It will only be an accident that I miss healing you in the upcoming fights." Bishop said, evening the score.

"I was just playing, birdie!" He said honestly.

"And so was I." Bishop replied.

"That's enough of that." Sella put in. "We aren't finished yet, and our friends are depending on us." She pointed out.

"Ah, too true. The sun's position has already drastically changed since I last looked."

Bishop sighed. "We have about half of daylight left to obtain the Myrrh and get back before dark. No matter how brave we are, we cannot be here after dark. We simply won't be able to handle the monster hordes."

"Let's move on, then!" Portia energetically suggested.

"Unfortunately, time is against us, and speed is of the essence at the moment."

Bishop wisely said. "We are indeed in great need of haste. Let me heal everybody, and then let us proceed." He waved his staff around after the crystal atop it glowed, and a green, soothing light enveloped everybody. Their wounds instantly sealed up, and all traces of poison were purged of their bodies. Unfortunately, it did not heal their bruises from their battles, or their thrilling ride through the miasma stream, so they were forced to limp the rest of the way through the forest.

Shortly after the second battle, the came across one of the many dead ends of the Mushroom forest. Bishop walked ahead and pondered the situation, when the ground underneath him shuddered. He was a moment too late stepping off, because the mushroom he was standing on promptly shot up into the air, with Bishop on top. His surprised squawk could be heard as a black dot quickly disappeared over the horizon.

"Come on, bird man flew the coop, and we should follow suit!" Zach said urgently.

Everybody nodded their head, and stepped onto the springy fungus with him.

The ground shuddered just like last time, and before they too could react, the mushroom below rose at a speed rivaling a lightning bolt. The ground left their feet swiftly, and the air around them roared in their ears while the familiar ground they were on trailed from sight. Everything around them was a yellowish-orange blur as they sped through the air. They started to descend when they approached another clearing. They plummeted, and all reasons to be quiet were forgotten as they fell screaming. When they did hit the ground, they were surprised to find that it wasn't that hard. Suddenly, they heard a grunt underneath them, and they quickly got off each other. Bishop lay on the ground fairly disheveled and now slightly flattened at the arrival. Everybody kept apologizing until Bishop silenced them with a wave of his hand, and then he cast cure upon himself once again.

"I hope you had a nice landing." He said coolly. Today just wasn't his day.

Everybody apologized again, but Bishop sighed and said, "It's not like you could do anything about it anyways. Just keep moving."

They kept walking across the clearing, when another ambush of monsters appeared out of the woods. The group took them out easily, due to better knowledge of how to dispose of them. The path narrowed ahead, and now the mushrooms seemingly leered over the path, blocking most of the late afternoon sunlight, and making the area even more sinister than before. They finally came out of the constricted path, only to walk into a somewhat narrower and longer clearing. In the middle sat some small strange creature, but nobody could identify it because they were too far away. It looked gross, whatever it was.

The caravaners edged closer, trying not to attract its attention, but it spotted them with an eye on a stalk that appeared from the top of its head. It opened its big gaping mouth, and began to inhale deeply. The group fell to the ground and clung on for life, while the mysterious monster sucked the life energy out of nearby mushrooms. It glowed from within, and then it was suddenly enveloped in a blast of light.

However, what emerged was not to the liking of the terror-stricken caravaners.

And so ends another chappy! BOY, i should get shot! another cliffhanger! well, i hope this was enjoyable for those of you that read this!

Till next time, people! Please review! it would be greatly apreciated. if you don't review, i'll update anyways! I just enjoy reviews.


	9. The Great Marlboro of Mushroom Forest

_Well, it's me again! And I come with the next installment of this story in my hand!_

_Like I promised, I said I would update often. And I meant it, too! Enjoy, People!_

_Camera crew, lights please! and get the stupid stuffed monster out so the actors can beat it up!_

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Chapter eight: The Great Marlboro of Mushroom Forest

A great bigheaded thing reared back and let loose a roar that blew the caravaners backwards and deafened them instantly.

The beast, known as a Marlboro, was a cousin of the Demon plant. Its body was completely spherical in shape, with a myriad of tentacles squirming underneath it. It had a huge lipless gaping mouth that rivaled the demon plant's maw, and it had dagger teeth that were the size of a fist. Its eyes were all on long stalks that protruded from its back, so it also had a striking resemblance to Medusa.

It roared again, and the group hastily covered their ears to protect themselves from the sonic assault. Then the Marlboro stuck six of its root tentacles into the ground in front of it, and the tips disappeared completely. The ground rippled for a moment, and the group quickly split up at a motion from Bishop. They ran apart, and then the roots suddenly sprang from the ground and started thrashing about like whips. Sella burnt one of the roots while Portia, Anna and Zach hacked away like crazy. Bishop charged some magic energy, and stored it in his staff for later. He had a surprise for the Marlboro when it was least expecting it. The monster quickly retracted its roots, and then its body bristled with energy.

"RUN! IT'S USING A SPELL!" Bishop shouted to his friends.

A weird rune shaped like a series of circles and roman numerals appeared in the air, and then suddenly an aurora-like purple curtain descended and exploded with weird numbers flying everywhere. Zach and Portia were hit by the spell, and they were magically slowed down. Then the monster began to inhale very deeply again, except this whirlwind was stronger than the first. Everybody had a hard time standing their ground, but Zach and Portia were getting sucked in! Sella and Bishop fused their fire and life magic, and created a burning ball of light that cannonballed straight at the monster's mouth. The sphere collided with the monster's teeth, and the surrounding gum was instantly burned away with a huge explosion. Zach and Portia were blown back, but they were unharmed. The spell also wore off, so they were back to normal too. Bishop quickly healed everybody, and then he ran behind the monster and headed straight for the myrrh tree.

Trusting Bishop well enough to know that he had a plan, the rest of them knew they merely had to keep the monster distracted a little longer, and harm it a little more.

The monster in question was, by now, infuriated with the resilient little pests, and was getting very frustrated. It stored up energy again, except something was wrong this time. The energy levels in its body started to fluctuate out of control, and the surrounding air began to grow frighteningly cold. Then the sky went dark and a ball of cold purple light appeared in front of the Marlboro. The ball began to grow in size, and being smart enough to know that was bad, the group ran from it as fast as they could. The ball exploded, and giant spears of ice spontaneously erupted from it, lancing everything within range with hard, pure ice. The team visibly shook, because of the ferocity of the spell, and also because of the fact that it now felt and looked like winter. One hit from that, and they would freeze to death, or be speared like a boar. The monster had exhausted all of its tricks, so it was now way too predictable. It made up for its predictable nature by increasing its ferocity tenfold. Actually, it had ONE trump card none of the caravaners expected. It inhaled again, but big veins along its mouth pulsated sickly, and then it closed its mouth for a moment while the veins completely bloated out. It then spewed a huge cloud of murky wastes that threatened to choke the team to death. They could already feel themselves weaken with the fast acting poison and the terrible stench of decayed……..something…

Then a pure cloud of light appeared and dispersed the gas and healed the team, also curing them of poison. The Marlboro quickly spewed another cloud of gas, but it bounced off an invisible barrier. The team ran up and began another assault on the dumbfounded beast, quietly thanking Bishop for his quick thinking. Zach jumped on top of the monster's head, with a little help from Portia. He ran across the monster's back, and sliced all of the eye stalks off, then he jumped off while the Marlboro roared in its freshly inflicted blindness. Sella had been charging her energy for a while, and now she couldn't hold any more energy. Bishop had been doing the same thing, and motioned for Sella to cast a powered up fire spell. He himself cast life again, and his Full-life spell fused with Sella's Firaga spell. The resultant light explosion shamed the sun for eternity, but the Marlboro couldn't tell that. The light tore at its body, and now it oozed slime everywhere.

Far from finished, it prepared to do another draining attack, when it sensed an odd, threatening presence behind it. Bishop snared it senses with some powerful magic of his own, and managed to convince it he was another rival monster. He was standing right under the myrrh tree. The Marlboro, not realizing its mistake, inhaled and drained energy from Bishop's direction. It pulled a bubble of Myrrh energy towards itself, and when it absorbed the energy, resultantly purified itself. Now with no resistance to the miasma, it began to burn all over its body. Its tissue inflamed and instantly decayed, and its veins burst all over its body, showering the nearby area in foul body fluids. The monster quickly reduced to a pile of rotten vegetation, and soon evaporated, never to be seen again.

Everybody heaved a sigh of relief, and then Bishop pulled Ichiro's amulet from out of his robes, and walked over to the Myrrh tree with everybody following. He held the amulet up right under the tip of the myrrh tree, and then the tree glowed, and all of its energy focused to the one point above Bishop. A drop of Myrrh formed, and then after twinkling like a star, it dropped and absorbed into the crystal in Bishop's outstretched hand.

"Kupo!"

Everybody almost jumped out of their socks, and then they saw the mailmoogle waddling over to them with a few letters in his mouth. Everybody sighed and sat down while waiting for the moogle to deliver the letters. They all read their letters, and hastily scribbled down responses and handed them back.

"By the way, are you Archie?" Bishop inquired suspiciously.

"Uh…..Why, kupo?" It asked nervously

"Nothing specific." He replied.

The moogle continued collecting letters, and then he beat a hasty retreat while saying,

"So long, Kupo!"

"So long, Archie!" Everybody but Bishop yelled back.

Bishop sat with his chin resting on his fist. For once that day, he was lost in the infinite expanse of his thoughts.

"Hey, something wrong, Bird-man?" Zach asked worriedly

Bishop failed to reply, but got up and signaled for them to return to the wagon. He trailed behind while pondering something. He couldn't shake the feeling, but he felt that something was up. He finally just sighed and brushed the thought from his mind.

He would just bring it up with Ichiro and worry about it then.

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"Hey….." Ichiro grunted in pain. "How did it go?'

"Quite well." Bishop replied. "Before I forget, I have something I wish to discuss with you, considering the fact that you are the undisputed leader of the caravan.

"Uh……Right… Yeah, sure I'll talk about it, whatever it is…"

"Ok, I need you other people to go somewhere else. I need to talk with Ichiro."

Everybody just shrugged and left to go do something else.

"Ok……now, about what I wanted to say…"

"Yes?"

"To put it simply, I think we are being watched."

"And why is that?"

"For a real mailmoogle to do his job, he would take much longer to do his job, so he would have to switch with other moogles to get the mail to the recipients on time.

But he was there last time you got mail, so I'm thinking somebody is having him follow us. He may well be part of their group, so, I suggest that we keep our eyes peeled for trouble."

"But what's happening to our mail!?!?" Ichiro panicked.

"They probably left it at some post office for another moogle to send. Some moogles do that occasionally, so they won't be suspicious. That gives them an opportunity to keep an eye on us. But then they probably read the mail, so we need to be careful."

"Great, another thing to worry about. I'll keep my eyes open."

"Good. I shall also. We should jump up our security just to be sure."

"Right, I'll let the others know without letting on too much."

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_Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd……..CUT_!

_That's all for today! Sorry if my chapters are too short. If they are, review and let me know! Thank you for reading, my faithful audience!_

_I will continue to update often, so keep reading! Over and out! "Trips over while walking off stage"_

_Blast it! Get the crew over here and straighten that rug! I'll see you people later_

_TTFN!_


	10. The Trip to Marrs Pass

_Hey everybody! Its me again! Here I am with the next chapter!_

_Well, lets save the talking for later and get to the show!_

_HEY! Did any of you people fix the rug? "Trips on rug and lands face first"_

_That answers my question! Give me a minute so I can get off stage and let this show roll!_

_"Walks off the stage and trips once again"_

_Oh, before I forget, I have something I must say, due to the request of one of my reviewers, I do in fact have some Selkie characters planned. Patience will pay off, my friend! On with the show!_

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Chapter Nine: The trip to Marrs Pass

After a day of rough traveling, Ichiro has still forgotten to tell his friends of possible spies. Bishop let the matter drop, but he still kept his eyes open, possibly too much. He woke up that morning in just the same condition as when he went to the river belle path.

"Something wrong, Bishop?" Anna asked meekly.

Bishop snapped back to reality, after having been asleep with his helm resting in his food.

"Nothing…." He yawned.

Sella, who had a knack for detecting things, began to act Very curious.

"Bishop, something's wrong. Speak." She ordered. She charged her ring up, and it began to spark.

Bishop squawked in shock, but quickly regained his composure.

"Ichiro, I believe we have something to discuss."

"Huh? What about?" he asked stupidly, and ultimately, completely lost.

"Speak" Sella ordered.

"Looks like I am either going to be completely fried, or torn apart in pure fright."

Everybody gasped and looked at him worriedly, even Ichiro

_Mental note: _Bishop thought._ NEVER talk to Ichiro about these things. He's hopeless._

"Look, Mail moogles almost NEVER deliver twice within three days. That just happened.

So, either we are being watched already, or that moogle really like us. The last is least likely because if he like us so much, he would have just stayed with us."

"But doesn't he have a job?" Engle piped up.

"Most moogles are volunteers. They aren't bound by duty like we are."

"Oh."

"So, I've come to the conclusion we are watched. And that's bad."

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The moogle in question, was, in fact, keeping an eye on them. He sat on top of the wagon with his fuzzy ear up against the canvas, listening in on their private discussion

The moogles eyes grew wide with shock, and he carefully rolled himself upright, and flew off as quietly as he could. Fortunately for him, moogle flight was almost impossible to hear, it was so quiet.

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"Did somebody hear something?" Rick inquired nervously.

"I think your fright may have gotten the better of you. Just relax and focus on what we are talking about." Bishop replied quietly.

Frankly, Rick was NOT convinced.

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Archie kept flying as fast as he could, dodging a tree here, a tree there…then he came to a clearing that had a small camp in it. He kept flying until he accidentally crashed into a selkie that just happened to walk right into the klutzy moogle's way.

"Hey, you stupid…..oh…its you again. How's the mission coming along, Artemichion?"

"Our cover's blown, kupo! Make haste! Fly, kupo! Fly!"

"I kinda expected that to happen, so I'm not surprised. I came up with another plan. Just keep your eye on the targets, so we can follow them. Do me a favor and quit delivering mail."

"Aye aye! You got it, kupo!"

_Gah! Why did I let him even help me!?!_

_oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo_

_Sorry, this is sorta a filler chappy! I apologize, but I'm not in the mood to type much for this story tonight. I started another story, and I feel like working on it. If ya wanna check it out, just take a shortcut and go to my penname, and look at the bottom of my profile. you'll see it there. It's called "Kingdom Hearts: The Heart of Light" I hope ya enjoyed this story so far! TTFN!_


	11. Marrs Pass: The Mystery of the Inn PtI

_I am back with another chapter for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles!_

_Let the drama continue please!_

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Chapter Ten: Marrs Pass: The Mystery of the Haunted Inn

Situated on a cliff, the beautiful little town of Marrs Pass rests peacefully in the middle of a three way crossroad. Originally settled by the Lilties , it now was inhabited by both Clavats and Lilties. They got along peacefully, and to be honest, the main occupation was blacksmithing. The view was stupendous, and you could see for miles upon miles on end, even with the miasma clouding up the whole world. All roads into the town hugged the side of the surrounding cliffs, and it was a little difficult to enter because of the narrow roads.

Ichiro was driving the wagon again. He felt a little better, but his rear was still a little sore. He constantly moved around, trying to get into a comfortable position, but it comfort continued to elude him. He finally got off his bench, and led his papaopamus into town by the bit that was in its mouth. He found a stable that he could pay somebody to watch the critter, and he paid the Clavat running the business 50 gil to care for it.

He helped everybody get their stuff out of the wagon, and they made their way to the inn.

(For those of you who know what Marrs Pass looks like, the building beside the Crystal that is on the right is the inn. The building is blue…sorta.)

They stepped inside. To the left was the desk where they paid for spending the night there, and to the right was a night club sort of place. Only right now, for the moment, it was empty save for one person behind the bar, cleaning out glasses with water and a washrag. The party of ten walked up to the Clavatian lady behind the desk, and Ichiro cleared his voice. She jumped, and then looked at all ten of the caravaners with very bright and wide eyes.

"Um…..Are all of you planning to spend the night here?" She asked with a false smile covering up her shock and surprise.

Ichiro, having shrewd eyes, noticed the lady acting a little strangely.

"Is something the matter with the rooms, or are you all booked out already?" He asked.

"Neither…" She sighed. "Well…..it's sort of the first one…" She leaned her head to the side and looked at the ground sadly. "It's haunted."

Everybody slowly exchanged looks of terror.

"How so?" Ichiro gulped.

"I'm not too sure, but people occasionally get murdered in their sleep, and there is no way to determine how it was done. Sometimes, any clues available all point towards the other person that slept in the room. They usually die within the week of some horrible accident.

And if there are every any witnesses, their soul seems to die…they're still alive, mind you, but they don't respond to anything. They waste away, and eventually they die too."

Ichiro looked worried, and then he asked, "Do you think there is any way I could possibly help you with this problem?"

"None that I know off…." The proprietress responded sadly.

"Tell me, what room is haunted, if any specific room is haunted, and also if there are any legends I have yet to hear." Ichiro asked.

She looked up with a little hope shining in her eyes, but she still looked sad and worried.

"That side of the Inn is haunted…I think." She pointed over to the side where the Bar was. Ichiro looked, and saw the Bar lady was not there anymore. The proprietress continued, "I don't know of any legends off hand, but I can look into the records and see if there is anything." She said hopefully.

Ichiro looked back at the bar, and noticed it was quite empty, as opposed to when he first walked in. The lady reappeared from the room behind her desk, and had a pile of papers in her arms. She smiled, and plopped the papers on the desk untidily.

"It will take a while to look, but I found a likely place to start looking."

She looked at the visitors like she was trying to count them, but she was having a hard time.

"Umm…how many of you are staying the night?" She asked uncertainly.

Ichiro looked back at the group, and whispered. A lot of them cocked their heads to the side, and looked at each other questioningly. After a moment, they all shook their heads.

Engle Passionately shook his head, and his helmet slowly inched off, until it flew off and clattered on the ground loudly. He blushed a deep scarlet, and hastily thrust his head back into his bucket for sweet privacy's sake. Nobody noticed.

Ichiro frowned, and turned around to look the lady in the face.

"Just me, then." He said a little disappointedly.

"That will be only ten gil, then." She frowned. "Umm…You want a room on this side…" She waved her arm to include the half of the building they were in. "…Or that side?" Then she waved her other arm and motioned to the other half of the building, the haunted half.

"…That side." Ichiro said hesitantly.

The lady looked in a pocket on her pants, and then she pulled a rusty key out and placed it on the desk.

"The gil first, and then you get the key." She said in a business like tone.

Ichiro dug around in his pocket, and placed a piece of gold on the desk worth ten gil.

"It has been good doing business with you." She said. "It would appear that I have something to do now." She walked back into the records room, and shut the door and locked it. A moment later, a big crash was heard, and then everybody could hear papers fluttering around and something heavy hit the floor hard.

"I'm ok!" They could hear the lady shouting to them.

Ichiro sighed, and then turned around to face his fellow caravaners. They all stared at him as if he was mad and out of his mind, except for Engle. He was faced in the opposite direction, and it seemed he was trying to imitate everybody else. Bishop calmly grabbed his head, and then spun him around so that he now faced Ichiro like everybody else.

"What did I do?" Ichiro asked innocently.

"I knew you were suicidal, but now it's out in the open for everybody to see!" Portia said haughtily.

"I don't agree with you this time, Ichiro." Bishop said wisely. "If you need us tonight, we'll be sleeping in the wagon.

Ichiro sighed exasperatedly, and said, "If you have something that needs to be done in town, I guess you should go and do it. If you need ME tonight…" He held up the rusty key and waved it in their faces. "…I'll be in the room at the far end of the hallway upstairs. Good night."

He turned around, and went past the desk and around the corner to ascend the stairs leading to the upper floor. Everybody exchanged an incredulous expression, and then shrugged and made their way to the central part of town to begin shopping for provisions and new armor.

Ichiro carefully navigated the creaky steps, and then after clearing the stairs, walked down the hall to an old looking door that looked like it had been through much more than the rest of the doors in the hallway combined. He held his baggage in his left hand, and he held the key up to his face in the sunset as he stood in front of the door. The key looked ordinary, but for some reason he felt like it was evil.

_I'm crazy! How can a KEY be evil?_ He thought. He shook his head, and then inserted the key into the keyhole and gave it a sharp turn. He heard the lock click loudly, and then he stuck the key into his pocket and walked in. He tossed the bag so it landed nicely beside the bed, and then he turned around to close the door.

Only the door was already closed.

He heard a creepy rustle in the room behind him, and he slowly drew his sword and turned to face his unwelcome visitor.

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Is Ichiro going to get Murdered? HECK NO! …………But who said he wasn't going to get hurt? Yet another cliff hanger, people. Hang tight, and the next chapter will come soon. good by for now, everybody!


	12. Marrs Pass: The Mystery of the Inn Pt2

_I'm back. This is for some certain individual in case they are reading this. You know who you are. I'm sorry to hear that you think my story stinks. If you visited my profile, you would have seen near the bottom that I put my best into my work. I will not mention the review part, because that was quite clear. It sounds to me like you thought my story was a waste of your time. Maybe it was. Thank you for the review, and I'll see what I can do about my style, but keep in mind I am not a people pleaser. I said I'll see what I can do about it. Again, I'm sorry you did not like my story. As for the rest of you people that do like my story, I have the next chapter right here. Read on!_

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Chapter 11: Marrs Pass: The Mystery of the Haunted Inn Part II

Ichiro slowly turned around, and then he jerked around to view his room.

Nothing.

He frowned, and then he shrugged. He was about to put his sword back in its sheathe, but something grabbed him from behind and forcefully threw him out the shut window.

He crashed through it, and fell to the road below.

Bishop was strolling around peacefully, whistling a little tune, when he heard a loud crash. He kept walking, and within the second found himself pinned to the road.

He squawked, and tried to push the thing off of him. He peered out of one of the holes in his helm, and was surprised to find Ichiro looking back at him. Both of them scrambled wildly for a moment before getting off of each other and standing up. They both dusted themselves off, and then they looked back at each other.

"Just what is the meaning of this? Did the proprietress throw you out?" Bishop asked incredulously.

"I did get thrown out, but it wasn't the proprietress!" Ichiro said indignantly.

"Tell me, was it a ghost?" Bishop said with an air of mockery.

"Don't tell me you don't believe in ghosts!" Ichiro responded dumbfounded.

"I have yet to see one, so why should I believe in them?" He asked.

"I'm not in the mood to argue. Go ahead and continue whatever you were doing before I interrupted."

"Fine by me." At that, Bishop walked off and continued whistling, like he hadn't a care in the world.

Ichiro sighed, and walked back into the hotel. He looked around the room carefully, and saw that the record room was still locked. The room was empty. He thought that was so, until he saw the bar lady stand up from behind the counter across the room. He twitched slightly, and made his way back to the staircase.

He got back in his room, and then he locked the door. He lay down on his bed, and stared at the ceiling idly. It was about ten minutes before he heard a knock on his door. He got up, and looked at the door for a moment, and then he heard the knocking again. He groaned, and got up and made his way to the door. He groped for his key for a moment, and then he stuck it in and unlocked the door.

He saw the Bar Lady standing in the doorway with a tray in her hands. The tray had a few cups of water on it, and she asked sweetly, "Would you like something to drink?"

He thought for a second, and then he nodded. He reached towards one of the glasses of water, and she slapped his hand away.

"No, I'm afraid you can't do that." She said in a bossy voice. "I have the cups numbered, and the rooms are numbered too, so in case a cup is missing, I know where to look."

"Oh. You shoulda told me." He said painfully.

"Here." She handed him a glass that had a number six on the side, and then she walked down the hall and began to knock on other doors.

Ichiro shut his door and locked it again, and made his way back to his bed.

He took a quick glance at his cup, and then he swigged it. All the water was gone in about a minute, and he lay back down carefully, because the bed was creaky, and it felt like it would fall apart at any moment.

_You know, something tastes REALLY bad._ Ichiro thought._ Oh, wait, didn't my mom tell me the water in Marrs pass left a bad after taste? I guess that was it._

He rolled over, and closed his eyes for the night. He didn't stay asleep long, because he felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

_Ouch, that water really doesn't agree with me tonight._

He lay down again, and closed his eyes. He jumped back up as another pain, sharper than the first, shot across him. He got up out of his bed, and fell back down on it. For some reason, he couldn't move his limbs around well. He sluggishly made his way to the window, and put his head out because he felt like he was going to throw up. He leaned out the window too far, and fell out again.

Selena was walking about the town one last time before turning in for the night. She was looking at the moon, when she heard a grunt of pain, and then she heard a thunk as something hit the ground right next to her.

She shrieked and jumped away, and then looked at the motionless figure. She thought the figure looked familiar, but wasn't sure, because it was pretty dark. She inched closer, and found that it was Ichiro. Ichiro's eyes were open, but his face was in a grimace of pain.

"Ichiro?" She whispered nervously.

"Selena?" He whispered back, but painfully.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice rising in terror.

"……Poison…….Get …..Bishop…Hurry…" He gasped.

She shrieked again, and flew toward the stable where the wagon was located.

_Well, at least it's no ghost. _Ichiro thought stupidly.

Selena came streaking back, with a worried Bishop on her heels.

"Clear." Bishop said calmly. There was a flash, and Ichiro saw it came from the gem on top of the Yuke's staff. H felt better almost instantly, and he got back up and dusted himself off.

"I didn't know the staff had that many spells fused into it!" Ichiro remarked surprisedly.

"Yes, I have found it to be quite handy." Bishop said as he fondly held the piece of wood.

"Well, you two go back to sleep, I have something I must deal with." Ichiro said.

The two nodded, and yawned a little bit after. The three people split up and walked separate ways, Ichiro to the Inn, Selena to finish her walk, and Bishop to the stable.

Ichiro boldly strode up to the front doors of the Inn, and threw them open. The bar lady was just coming down the stairs, and she looked like she had seen a ghost when she saw Ichiro.

With his suspicions confirmed, he first locked the front door, and then he walked up to the desk, vaulted over the top, and then knocked on the records room door. He put his ear up against the door, and heard snoring inside the room. He knocked even harder, and then he heard a shout, and more papers flapping around. The door opened, and a disheveled Inn keeper popped out.

"Wha…what time is it?" She yawned.

"Late enough."

"What happened?" She asked, by now decently awake.

"The bar lady tried to poison me. I believe you should turn her in and fire her." Ichiro said bluntly.

"Wha!?!" She yawned again. The Bar lady dropped the tray quickly, and fled up the stairs. Ichiro pursued, With the Innkeeper following. The lady was right in front of Ichiro's locked room, when he seized her wrist and pulled her in front of her employer.

"Why are you doing this, Sis?" The Inn keeper asked quietly.

"THIS INN SHOULD HAVE BEEN MINE! IT WAS LEFT TO ME IN THE WILL, BUT YOU STILL GOT IT!" She screamed hysterically.

"But you did not follow the guidelines." Her sister said sternly. "It said QUITE clearly that if you proved you were responsible, that it would be yours. The night we went to court, you went home and PARTIED." Her sister said disgustingly. "Then you wasted all of your money gambling and on liquor. When you went to court the next MORNING, you looked like crap, and I had your receipts as proof of what you did with YOUR money! You can tell it to the judge, and while you're at it, tell him why people mysteriously died in MY HOTEL!"

She stomped downstairs, and Ichiro blocked the lady's only escape route, until her sister reappeared with two officers, and a small ornate bottle.

"I found this under the counter over by the glass tumblers and bottles. When you take her to Alfitaria to the supreme judge, make sure you keep this bottle close to you so that it does not disappear. This is evidence you will need."

"Ok, hand it here, and I'll watch it." One of the cops said. By the way, both of the officers were Lilties, but they were a little bigger than normal, and really strong.

"You're coming with us." The other cop said.

The lady screamed herself silly as the Liltie snapped handcuffs on her wrists.

They literally dragged her out, and by now the whole village was awake.

The Innkeeper turned around and grimaced. "If it's at all possible, try to go back to sleep and have a good night." She turned and left, and Ichiro could hear her walking down the creaky steps. He sighed, and pulled his key out yet again, and unlocked the door. When he was safely on the other side, he locked the door again in case if any maniacs were still after him. He walked back over to the window and pulled the drapes down tight over the window, because a chilly breeze was blowing in. After he was satisfied that he fixed the window decently, he walked over to his bed. He heard an eerie rustling like earlier, and he looked back at the window to make sure there was no breeze blowing in. He frowned for a sec, and then he turned back around to go to his bed.

A strange shadow hung over the bed, and Ichiro stopped right in his tracks.

The shadow spoke in a hollow, raspy voice.

"I see that you have finally brought justice to my murderer." It rasped.

"I…I guess so.." Ichiro stuttered.

"Now, I can rest in peace. Good night, brave little fellow." It faded away, and the window blew back open.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Ichiro screamed. He tossed himself on his bed, and jerked the covers over his head so that he was completely covered by blanket.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Can anybody guess who threw Ichiro out the window the first time and why?

That's that. Ichiro released some poor tortured somebody, and now they both can rest peacefully. Next chapter will come soon, I hope this was a fun and interesting read today.

Good bye for now, everybody!


	13. Marrs Pass: Preparations

_I'm back, after taking a break for forever! I'm a MUCH better writer now, too. At least, I think I am. Well, are you people ready for another chapter?_

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Ichiro yawned contentedly as he woke up. His eyelids fluttered open, and the morning sun glared in his eyes.

He kicked the covers off his bed, and then rolled off with a thunk.

"Ow…I wish there were a better way to wake myself up." He groaned. He stretched, and after he was finished, he made up the bed, and walked out of the room with the key.

He left the room, and closed the door, after which he locked it. He whistled merrily as he walked down the hall.

"Hey! I'm tryin ta sleep here!" Somebody yelled from their room.

"Ok, then. Shut up and go back to sleep." Ichiro said grouchily.

As he walked away, he could hear what suspiciously sounded like, "Whippersnapper" coming from the room.

He bumped into the land lady as he walked down the stairs.

"Did you have a good night's sleep?" She asked with a smile.

"Despite being poisoned, it was alright." Ichiro replied honestly. "Anyways, I need to be leaving. Business, ya know. I AM a caravaner, after all."

"I understand." The land lady said. "If you're leaving now, if you could just hand me the key…"

"Oh, right." Ichiro said. He walked down the stairs, and turned around and lightly tossed the key. The lady caught it between her thumb and her index finger.

"Thank you for your business!" The lady called out as Ichiro left.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ichiro bumped right into Bishop as he walked out the door.

"Oof…Sorry, didn't see you there." Ichiro mumbled sheepishly as Bishop peered at him.

"…While you were sleeping like a baby, I took the liberty of getting everybody woken up, and properly prepared." Bishop said blandly.

"Uh…Thanks." Ichiro said uncertainly.

"If you're really our leader, you need to be more responsible." Bishop sighed.

"Sorry." Ichiro apologized, hanging his head.

"Are you done lecturing him, now?" Asuka asked with a grin.

"Uh…AHEM…Yes, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to get carried away." Bishop apologized awkwardly.

"Don't worry. I'm used to it." Ichiro grinned.

"Uh-uh-uh Sorry, gotta go!" Bishop stuttered. He ran off, looking really flustered.

"That was…weird." Asuka said, after an awkward moment. Then she slapped herself in the head.

"I forgot for a second why I even came over! We're not exactly finished yet. Some people need to get some armor and things over at the blacksmith." Asuka said.

"That's a good idea. I don't know why that didn't occur to me…" Ichiro said, stroking his chin.

Asuka walked over and lightly and playfully bopped him on the head.

"Ya have a head, so use it, captain!" She giggled.

"Meh…I'll make sure to use it more often, then." Ichiro replied sheepishly.

"That's good! If you need me, I'll be over in the stable, getting the wagon and Mac ready."

"Huh? Who's Mac?" Ichiro asked stupidly.

"He's our PAPAOPAMUS!" Asuka said.

"Oh!" he said, as realization hit him like a bomb.

"Like I said, start using your brain!" Asuka said, before running off.

Ichiro watched her, as she disappeared into the rickety shack.

"Speaking of which, I need some more armor, myself." He said to himself. He walked right across from the inn, to the blacksmith's area of operations.

He found a lilty standing in front of a cauldron like furnace full of molten iron. The lilty had a steel visor, and he was furiously poking a piece of metal into the heat.

"Uh…Hello." Ichiro said.

"WAUGH!" The lilty yelped. The poker, along with the piece of metal, soared into the air, and landed with a slurping noise in the furnace. It sank, and quickly melted.

"Oh…CRAP! That was the last poker too!" The lilty sighed dejectedly. "…What do you want?" He asked.

"I…was just wondering if you could make me an iron plate." Ichiro asked.

"…I could, but due to MAJOR difficulties, I can't." He sighed.

"Why?" Ichiro asked.

"…Didn't you see my LAST poker melt?" The lilty asked, aggravated.

"Yes."

"There. That's why."

"Oh…" Ichiro said. "…Why are you so angry and everything? Surely there's something else that's making you upset."

"I was passed up AGAIN!" The lilty yelled, distraught.

"You weren't accepted on the caravan?"

"That's DARN TOOTIN' RIGHT!" The lilty yelled, kicking the furnace.

"…Why?"

"That stuck up snob…He thinks he can handle the caravan himself, him and his friends. Thought I was a WEAKLING." At this, the lilty got too choked up, and made a violent strangling gesture in the air with both of his hands.

"Who?" Ichiro asked, continuing the interrogation.

"Rolf wood." Somebody said bitterly.

"AHH!" Ichiro yelled. He turned around, to see another Lilty standing in a doorway in the wall behind the furnace.

"He told us to stay, because we were weak, and that if we weren't good blacksmiths, then we sure wouldn't be good battlers." The lilty said.

"And we're quite good, actually." Another lilty said, with a hint of a snarl. Ichiro looked next to the lilty in the doorway, and saw a female lilty standing next to him.

"Not at the blacksmithing part." The steel visor lilty groaned.

"Unfortunately, that's true." The bareheaded lilty sighed.

"We'd like to help you with your weapon condition, and everything, but with all niceness removed, we STINK." The girl said.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Ichiro said sympathetically.

"Ah…keep your pity to yourself." The barehead said.

"We'll live." The visor one said.

"No…I think I can help." Ichiro insisted.

"How?" The girl asked.

"Join with my group. You can decide to stay with us, if you enjoy the trip."

"…It's so crazy…" The barehead said.

"IT JUST MIGHT WORK!" The visor one yelled triumphantly.

Everybody in the plaza stared at the odd group, and then continued with their business.

"One problem." Ichiro said.

"What?" All three of them asked at once.

"Lack of space, bring your own wagon." Ichiro said.

"No problem!" The girl said.

"We have our own wagon." The barehead said.

"Yes, and it actually WORKS!" The visor said excitedly.

"…Before we do anything else…What are your names?" Ichiro asked.

"Oh!" The visor slapped his head with a clang. "I'm Steven, the bald one's Isaac…"

"HEY!"

"…And my sister's Ellen." Steven finished.

"Nice to meet you." Ellen curtsied.

"And I'm Ichiro." Ichiro said, holding out his hand.

"Good to meet ya." Steven said, grasping his hand and shaking it.

Ichiro winced, because Steven's grip was REALLY strong.

"Ack…Nice to have you…Aboard." Ichiro grunted. "We were about to leave town, and head for the Mine of Cathuriges. We could use some help like yours."

"Um…" all of the siblings said.

"Really…We don't know all that much about the mine." Steven said finally, scratching the back of his neck.

"But you can fight, yes?" Ichiro asked.

"Yes." Ellen snarled.

"WHOA! I didn't mean anything by asking that! If you can fight, I'm happy. We'll find our way through the mines…eventually." Ichiro said hastily.

"True. There are tough monsters in there, but I think one or two of us will be more than adequate." Isaac said.

"Good, well, gather up your things, and meet us by the stable." Ichiro said, before walking off.

"…This is a strange day, indeed." Steven commented.

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The Tipa caravan was busy preparing the big, oversized wagon they had, when the three lilty blacksmiths drove a small wagon up.

"An' who are you strangers?" Portia asked rudely.

"They'll be coming along. They can help us with the mines." Ichiro explained.

"…I would question the intelligence of hiring people we don't even know." Bishop said in his sharp, knowledgeable voice.

"Watch your mouth, bird!" Ellen growled.

"Hold it." Steven grabbed her, and held her back. "I apologize, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Steven, this feisty lass is my sister, Ellen, and baldy is Isaac."

"DANG IT! I can't help I have short hair!" Isaac yelled.

"You _Have_ no hair." Steven corrected.

"So what? I burned myself on the scalp once, and I'm still alive."

"And bald."

"…..GRAHHHH!!!"

"Anyways, we're at your service." Steven concluded.

"Nice to meet ya!" Asuka in a friendly voice, while holding out her hand.

"No, do-" Ichiro started to say, but it was too late, as Steven had already begun shaking her hand. He squeezed her hand hard, but she merely grinned and squeezed back, causing Steven to whimper.

"…Ok." Ichiro said.

"Ouch…Good grip." Steven sighed, massaging his numb hand.

"Same to you." Asuka replied.

Ellen and Portia were glaring daggers at each other. Engle was quick to jump into the back of the wagon, and hide inside his oversized bucket helmet. Sella and Rick bowed politely to the newcomers, and Selena looked clueless as to what she should do. She decided to bow and curtsey at the same time, and ended up falling flat on her face. A snore could be heard from the back of the wagon.

"Um, nice group ya got here." Isaac said uncertainly.

"Yeah, nice. Hold on a sec." Ichiro said. He turned around and faced Bishop. "All of the supplies and weapons are accounted for?"

"Yes, Ichiro. I do believe I said so earlier." Bishop said in a stiff manner.

"Man, you're always so stiff and straight." Ichiro muttered, before facing his new partners. "Anyways, we're all set. Ready to go?"

"Yes." Steven said. He shooed his siblings into the back of the wagon, and then sat on the small bench perched on the front. He flicked the reigns, and his papaopamus snorted grumpily, and slowly trotted out the north exit of the city.

Ichiro whistled, and his friends quickly got inside the wagon, and he jumped up onto his bench, and flicked his reins to make Mac start moving as well. Mac trumpeted like a small elephant, and then he followed the other smaller caravan out of the city.

Unbeknownst to the caravaners, three figures were following them, ducking out of sight.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

_Well, that's that! Tell me what you think, alrighty?_

_See ya next time, when I finally update again!_


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